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p. H. PEARSE 

First President of the Irish Republic 



HISTORY OF THE 
SINN FEIN MOVEMENT AND 
THE IRISH RERELLION OF 1916 



BY 

FRANCIS P. JONES 

WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY 

HON. JOHN W. GOFF 




NEW YORK 

P. J. KENEDY & SONS 

1917 






COPYRIGHT, I917 
BY P. J. KENEDY & SONS 



m 17/917 

©C!.A4f30905 



CD 



TO MY WIFE 

MAIRE HASTINGS 



INTRODUCTION 

NOT within the confines of human knowledge has 
it been known that any one nation has wielded 
such power or exercised such arbitrary control 
over international communications as England does 
to-day. The ships on the water that carry the mails, 
the ocean cables beneath the water, and the wireless 
telegraphy above the water are each and all completely 
in her hands. Every avenue of intelligence is guarded 
by her police and picketed by her agents. Service to 
her interests is the rule applied to the suppression or the 
dissemination of news. 

In the titanic struggle for existence in which she is 
engaged, this, from her point of view, may be justifi- 
able; but from the point of view of history, founded 
upon truth, it is a malforming of facts and a poisoning 
of the wells of knowledge. In none of the fields of her 
worldwide activities is her censorship so complete or 
so drastic as it is in matters relating to Ireland or Ire- 
land's interests at home or abroad. Not that there is 
anything new in her misrepresentation of Ireland and 
the Irish. That she has done for centuries in the forum, 
on the stage, and through the influences of her literature 
and drama. But never has there been such wholesale 
suppression of realities and falsification of truth as since 
the great war. Commencement was made by the false 
acclaim of Ireland's loyalty, and the climax was reached 
by the perversion of the rebellion of Easter week into 
an inconsequential street riot. As time recedes from 
that tragic event, the larger will it loom in the memory 

vii 



viii INTRODUCTION 

of the Irish race; and whatever tends to penetrate 
and clarify the fog in which Enghsh misrepresentation 
has sought to enshroud it, is a distinctive and lasting 
service to historical truth. To everyone whose mental 
vision is not distorted by prejudice, the opportunity 
of learning the truth and of forming impartial judgment 
of the actions and motives of the men who have been 
maligned, or at most misunderstood, must be welcomed. 

Fortunately for the cause of truth, this opportunity 
is now presented by the timely publication of "History 
of the Sinn Fein Movement and the Irish Rebellion of 
1916," written by an author whose facilities for ac- 
quiring first-hand knowledge were unsurpassed, and whose 
capacity for imparting it will be appreciated by those 
who read the book. 

To write intelligently and convincingly of Irish affairs 
requires familiarity with a tangled subject and a keen- 
ness of vision that will perceive the genuine from the 
counterfeit. These qualifications spring from sym- 
pathy for and with the people, without which the writer 
(as in many cases exemplified) plunges into a morass of 
generalization, and becomes as detached from his sub- 
ject as Ireland is in spirit from England. That the 
author of this book is thoroughly imbued with that 
sympathy is manifest on every page; yet, withal, his 
sympathy does not cloud his perception or warp his 
judgment. He maintains throughout a fine sense of 
proportion, and his shadings but make more emphatic 
his work in relief. What is called the impartial pinnacle 
is in Ireland almost impossible of attainment. The 
rancor of party politics reaches an intensity unknown in 
America. Here political disputations generally center 
on domestic material questions - and very rarely affect 
the personal relations of the citizens. There, there 



INTRODUCTION ix 

are involved social distinctions and ambitions, tradi- 
tional prejudices, racial and not infrequently religious 
antipathies, and above all the ever present, though slum- 
bering, hostility to English rule. Through this maze 
the author guides a well-tempered steady pen that at 
no time is dipped in gall, though the opportunities for 
invective are not few. Conspicuous in this regard is his 
treatment of the Parliamentarians, the Home Rule Bill, 
and the recruiting propaganda, subjects to which strong 
and vivid expressions might well be applied. Yet, 
notwithstanding the provoking inducements to "let 
the gall'd jade wince," he pursues a course of modera- 
tion that enhances the value of the clear and simple, 
but dignified, narrative. 

A most valued part of the book is that which deals 
with the Sinn Fein movement. Fostered by misrepre- 
sentation, and aided by lack of correct information, 
ignorance regarding it has assumed amazing sway. 
Even men of a high order of intelligence have been mis- 
led by rumor and "cable hearsay" to form the most 
grotesque opinions concerning its nature and purpose. 
The prevailing view is that it was a secret oathbound 
society with revolution as its object and dark deeds its 
means. No doubt it will surprise many to learn from 
the clear definitions given in this book that it was not a 
secret oathbound society, and had no relation to plans 
or schemes for revolution. No doubt but that many 
Sinn Feiners were revolutionists in spirit and act, and 
equally so there were many Sinn Feiners opposed to 
revolution by force. Of itself, the movement might be 
termed patriotic political economy, and for unselfish 
aims coupled with patriotic purpose has not had its 
equal in modern times. Indeed, it was more. It was 
altruistic in its projected service ro country and human- 



X INTRODUCTION 

ity, and its spirit is expressed in a free translation of its 
title: For Ourselves. It was born of the terrible con- 
dition of Ireland: a fertile country, always on the verge 
of famine; an island favorably situated on the world's 
great water lanes, its coast line indented with capacious 
harbors, without shipping or commerce; a land with 
fine water facilities and rich mineral deposits, without 
trade or industry; and a vigorous, fecund population, 
decaying so rapidly as to bring into view the vanishing 
point of the race. Said the Sinn Feiners: Nature has 
blessed our country; it has been cursed by man. We 
eat English bread, we wear English clothes. Industrial 
enterprise depends on English capital, and the best 
products of our land are taken to English markets. 
We are taught to think and speak in English and fashion 
our morals on English lines. Let us encourage, as far 
as we can, home industry, by refusing to buy or consume 
articles of foreign manufacture or product; let us stimu- 
late Irish trade by the aid of Irish capital being applied 
to Irish enterprise; let us retain and employ our men 
by cultivating the soil, reaping the harvest, and feed- 
ing our people, instead of raising sheep and cattle for 
the Englishman's table; let us have a system of national 
education that will instill into the heart of youth love 
of country, reverence for its historic past, and hope 
for its future welfare, instead of the present system that 
denationalizes and degrades and fosters contempt 
for everything Irish. These and kindred objects con- 
stituted its program, and they were capable of attain- 
ment by means of association only. Surely fault should 
not be found with a people who by peaceable means 
endeavor by cooperation to elevate themselves to a 
plane of dignified national existence and intellectual 
progress. This is the Infinite design, and for a time 



INTRODUCTION xi 

at least it has been frustrated by man. It is noticeable 
that even under the extraordinary powers conferred by 
the Defense of the Realm Act Sinn Fein has not been 
proclaimed, nor has there been one public trial or 
prosecution for espousal of its principles. The reason is 
plain: its principles do not violate even a clause of 
English law, and while the society has not been placed 
under legal ban, its members have been persecuted 
upon the vicious, but oft-applied, principle that he who 
seeks to benefit Ireland thereby becomes the enemy of 
England. If the author did no more than give the 
instructive outline of this most interesting chapter of 
Irish History, and rescue it from possible oblivion or 
certain derision, he has made a valuable contribution 
to what has been termed the dismal science, and furnished 
a text for elaboration as to how an impoverished, dis- 
armed, and powerless people, acting in unison, may 
thwart the schemes of the powerful. 

But it is in his treatment of the rebellion of Easter 
week that he reaches the climax of interest. Naturally 
is this so, for it contains all the dramatic elements which 
stir the imagination and is saddened by the somber 
fringe of tragedy. His narrative is an etching. Its 
clear cut lines are unembellished by flower or figure, 
and in their strength and simplicity lie their historical 
value. Philosophic reflections and deductions are left 
to other minds and times, but the living facts are pre- 
sented so vividly that they cannot be minimized or dis- 
torted. Some features are so prominent that they are 
calculated to engross the attention to the exclusion of 
others equally important. First among these is the 
established determination of the ** Castle" to disarm 
the volunteers and arrest the leaders. By this act of 
aggression it was intended to accomplish three things: 



xii INTRODUCTION 

first, to strike terror into the people by the moral advan- 
tage of dealing the first blow; secondly, to coerce the men 
arrested into enlistment in the army; and thirdly, to still 
in the silence of the prison cell the voices of the men who 
had agitated against and made recruiting a failure. 

A sinister sidelight is thrown upon the "Castle" 
council when it was urged that the contemplated assault 
upon the people would produce a bad effect in America. 
General Friend, the commander of the forces, declared 
that he did not care about America, and that at all events, 
if the Irish there became troublesome, the American 
government would deport them. The second feature 
is the unfortunate countermand of Eoin MacNeill to 
the volunteers. Had this not been issued — well, it 
is idle to speculate on "what might have been." One 
thing may be reasonably assumed, that even though 
the end were not different, the cost of reaching it would 
have been. Many of the circumstances surrounding 
that fatal order may never be known. Casement, the 
pure and chivalrous, is dead, and MacNeill, the scholar 
and kindly gentleman, is immured for life. Notwith- 
standing that in the bitterness of defeat men may rashly 
express themselves as to causes, it is creditable to the 
Irish race that not one word had been uttered impugning 
the honor or the motives of either of those splendid 
patriots. And in harmony with that tribute, it may 
here be mentioned that, so far as is known, there has 
not figured in this rebellion that tool of England and 
shame of Ireland, — the informer. 

Worthy of the classic lines which have immortalized 
the Greek heroes are those men, who, with knowledge 
of their plans having been disordered and of the over- 
whelming power of the enemy they challenged, went 
intrepidly to sacrifice for their principles. The timid 



INTRODUCTION xiii 

and prudent calculator may say that they were rash 
and wildly impractical and wholly devoid of comfort- 
able worldly sense. While from a selfish and super- 
ficial point of view this may be partially true, yet the 
fact should not be overlooked that but for such men in 
all ages humanity could not have broken the shackles 
with which tyranny and power had frequently bound it. 
But these men were not blind fatalists. They were 
Christian men, of blameless lives, with tender ties of 
blood and affection, endowed with intellectual gifts 
of a high order, and a fine moral fiber that gives grace 
and beauty to human existence, and that vibrates in 
sympathy with every aspiration for truth and justice. 
All that makes life's journey pleasant and attractive 
was held in promise for them, had they but pursued the 
smooth and beaten path of self-interest and sterile ego- 
ism. For their bravery and courtly conduct generous 
words of praise have been extended even by their Eng- 
lish enemies. It is only from the servile Irish "Hero- 
dians" that bitter words have come. What must be 
the remorse of Mr. Redmond, their chief, when he re- 
flects on the language he used in a cablegram to New 
York a short time after the outbreak and before the 
truth escaped the censor. He said: "The whole dis- 
graceful plot is viewed with execration by the Irish 
people. It was almost entirely a Dublin movement; 
partly the creation of the Sinn Fein cranks and German 
agents there, partly of the remnants of that mass of 
discontent and anarchy which was left by the disastrous 
Larkinite strike. ... I have received communication 
from all parts of the world declaring vehement con- 
demnation by Irishmen of this insane and wicked at- 
tempt to destroy all Ireland's hopes, just at the moment 
when, after centuries of vain struggle, they were about 



xiv INTRODUCTION 

to be fully realized." For his sin "Vathek" was con- 
demned to eternal exposure of his scorched heart in a 
transparent body. 

So numerous were acts of heroism and devotion to 
duty that to single any one of them would appear in- 
vidious. One, however, may be mentioned as presenting 
incidents of romantic adventure worthy of being en- 
shrined in poetry. Longfellow enshrined "Paul Revere's 
Ride" from Charlestown to Lexington in graceful verse, 
and Buchanan Reed sculptured "Sheridan's Ride" to 
Winchester on Homeric lines. In "The O'Rahilly's" 
ride to Limerick, vividly described by the author, there 
is rich material and inspiration for the poet's genius. 

A true perspective of the acts and motives of the men 
who organized and led the rebellion of Easter week can 
only be had through sympathy with heroic endeavor. 
It would be as unjust to their memory as it would be 
misleading to the student of history to measure them 
by the gross materialism of the day. Granted that they 
were idealists, but they were idealists with a very prac- 
tical turn of mind, that had a clear conception of their 
rights as well as their duties. They knew that God 
alone fixed Ireland's place on this planet, that He gave 
its people a language and implanted in them an instinct 
for racial and national existence, that He conferred upon 
them the right to make their own laws for Ireland and 
in Ireland, and that He had never abrogated that right 
by transferring it to England. They knew they had 
been deprived of that right by force, and that it could 
never be regained except by a duty fulfilled, and the ful- 
fillment of that duty was life's highest law. They were 
convinced that a nation that has lost its freedom does 
not deserve it, unless to regain it it is ready to march 
to victory through constancy in sacrifice. 



INTRODUCTION xv 

In sadness the written and spoken history of their 
country told them that the path of the patriot led to 
poverty, exile, imprisonment, or death, and that his 
only ladder to fame were the steps leading to the scaffold. 
With that grim record before them, every man of them 
staked his life against desperate odds. They knew 
that the chances of victory were remote, but they de- 
termined to leave an enduring example. Why this 
sublime courage and splendid fortitude.^ Because they 
had absorbed the spiritual meaning of Kathleen ni 
Houlihan, so that it had permeated their soul. To 
them patriotism meant more than calculating for op- 
portunity and balancing for expediency. It was to 
them a religion that, when needs be, required sacrifice — • 
and sacrifice of life and liberty they made for conscience 
and for Ireland, that her much troubled and tried but 
immutable spirit may live. 

John W. Goff 

New York, 
March 4, 1917. 



PREFACE 

DURING the last week of May, 1916, I received a letter 
from Dublin stating that my friend, Arthur Griffith, 
the founder of the Sinn Fein movement, had been 
arrested and his house ransacked by the British miUtary 
authorities. 

As it happened, I had in my possession, and still have, a 
copy of The Sinn Fein Policy, as written by Griffith. I 
was aware, before I left DubUn, that very few copies of the 
pamphlet were in existence. On realizing that Griffith was 
silenced in an English prison, and out of a feeling of comrade- 
ship to him and a desire to preserve his work, I decided to set 
down the truth regarding that policy and movement of which 
the world then was, and still is, thinking. 

The men whose names have since been immortalized in the 
hearts of men and women of the Irish race the world over were 
my personal friends. For years it had been my privilege to 
work with them, to know them intimately, and to share a little 
in that work of preparation which later led to the reawaken- 
ing of the soul of Ireland. Many of them were intimate 
and particular friends and comrades of mine — for example, 
Michael O'Hanrahan and The O'Rahilly — and I felt also 
that the time had come to set upon record the truth regarding 
them and the ideals for which they worked and died. Since 
April, 1916, many articles about these men have appeared in 
American periodicals, often by writers whose knowledge could 
not be other than second-hand. Even when written with the 
best intentions, these articles gave rise to false impressions. 
In order, therefore, to portray these men as I knew them, to 
set down some of the facts of the case for Ireland, to show the 
manner in which this nation, one of the small nations of which 
we hear so much in these days of war, has been plundered and 



xviii PREFACE 

robbed of her industries, her rights and liberties — of all, in 
short, save her honor — I set about the compilation of this 
work, if for no other purpose than that my own two little sons 
might know the truth. 

It has been said, and truly, that England has erected paper 
walls around Ireland. On the inside of these walls she writes 
that which she wants the Irish people to believe about the 
rest of the world, and on the outside that which she hopes the 
world will believe about Ireland. For months before the re- 
bellion the Irish people were told that the men of Ireland 
were joining the British army by so many thousands per 
week, the truth being, as was later demonstrated, that the 
men of Ireland, and the women, too, were preparing to strike 
for their freedom. In spite of political intrigues, base bar- 
gains made by traitors, and appalhng economic conditions, 
there were many in Ireland with red blood in their veins and 
the old dream in their hearts, who worked and prayed that 
their dream might come true and who called deep in their 
hearts to the Ireland of their love: 

0! Dear Dark Head, though but the curlew* s screaming^, 

Wakens the echoes of the hill and glen; 
Yet shall thou see once more the bright steel gleaming. 

Yet shall thou hear again the tramp of men; 
And though their fathers' fate be theirs, shall others 

With hearts as faithful still that pathway tread. 
Till we have set, oh! mother dear of mothers, 

A nation's crown upon thy Dear Dark Head. 

The bright steel gleaming was their hope, as it has ever been 
of an unconquerable and martial people, for who can conquer 
a race that breeds men who went smilingly to death for free- 
dom, and men who, with the guns of the usurpers around them 
and their city in ashes behind them, went singing into exile, 
young men whose unconquerable spirit was so evident in their 
erect bearing as they marched on their way to English prisons 
that tears streamed down the cheeks of women and old men 
took off their hats as they passed? 



PREFACE 



xix 



While it will thus be seen that the subject has been ap- 
proached frankly from an Irish point of view, at the same 
time no effort has been spared to keep the record in strict ac- 
cordance with the facts available, even when these facts are 
such as I would willingly see erased from the record of Irish 
history. At the same time the mass of material has been so 
great that the chief difficulty has been to compress it within 
the compass of a single volume. 

Regarding these omissions, it may be well to mention that 
I had originally intended to devote one chapter to the record 
of English atrocities committed both during and after the 
actual fighting, of which ample proof is available. This rec- 
ord, however, has grown to such an extent that even the bar- 
est enumeration would fill many pages, and I had, therefore, 
to leave its publication for another occasion. The manner 
in which the English acted in the execution of their prisoners 
of war and their treatment of the three thousand men and 
women who were deported to England, Wales and Scotland, 
is in itself sufficient indication of what took place after the sur- 
render of the Republican leaders. It requires no stretch 
of the imagination to conjure up the picture of what the English 
soldiery would do in a helpless city when we see the official heads 
of the British Government acting in a manner that is now a 
matter of authentic history. 

In this connection nothing could better illustrate the feeling 
throughout Ireland following the executions and deportations 
than the letter addressed by the Bishop of Limerick to General 
Maxwell. This letter was written in reply to one from General 
Maxwell demanding that the Bishop take action against two 
of his priests alleged by the British Government to have acted 
in sympathy with the Republicans. The letter follows: 

ASHFORD, ChARLEVILLE, 

May 17, 1916. 
Sir: — I beg to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of 12th inst., 
which has been forwarded to me here. I have read carefully your 

allegations against Rev. and Rev. , but do not see in them 

any justification for discipHnary action on my part. They are both 



XX PREFACE 

excellent priests who hold strong national views, but I do not know 
that they have violated any law, civil or ecclesiastical. In your 
letter of 6th inst. you appeal to me to help you in the furtherance of 
your work as military dictator of Ireland. Even if action of that 
kind was not outside my province, the events of the past few weeks 
would make it impossible for me to have any part in proceedings which 
I regard as wantonly cruel and oppressive. You remember the Janje- 
son Raid, when a number of buccaneers invaded a friendly State 
and fought the forces of the lawful government. If ever men de- 
served the supreme punishment, it was they. But officially and un- 
officially the influence of the British Government was used to save 
them, and it succeeded. You took care that no plea for mercy should 
interpose on behalf of the poor young fellows who surrendered to you 
in Dubhn. The first information which we got of their fate was the 
announcement that they had been shot in cold blood. Personally, 
I regard your action with horror, and I believe that it has outraged 
the conscience of the country. Then the deporting by hundreds, 
and even thousands, of poor fellows without a trial of any kind seems 
to me an abuse of power as fatuous as it is arbitrary, and altogether 
your regime has been one of the worst and blackest chapters in the 
history of the misgovernment of this country. I have the honor 
to be, sir, your obedient servant, 

►I^ Edward Thomas O'Dwyer, 

rt. ^ If. T /-. Ti/r Bishop of Limerick, 

To General Sm J. G. Maxwell, ^ •' 

Commander-in- Chief, 

The Forces in Ireland. 

It was also my intention to devote some little space to the 
consideration of the means taken by Mr. John E, Redmond 
and the Parliamentary Party, in conjunction with Mr. Lloyd 
George, the present British Prime Minister, to force through 
a scheme of sham Home Rule that would have left Ireland 
in worse plight than ever. The time may come when this 
matter will, with its later developments, aflFord subject matter 
for another chapter of Irish history. In this place I merely 
propose to show what two of the most serious-minded Irish- 
men of their day. Archbishop Walsh of Dublin and the Bishop 
of Limerick, to whom reference has already been made, wrote 
and said of the actions of Mr. Redmond and his colleagues. 



PREFACE xxi 

Writing in a Dublin newspaper under date of July 25, 1916, 
Archbishop Walsh made the following statement: 

Dear Sir: — For years past I have never had a moment's doubt 
that the Irish Home Rule cause in Parliament was being led along 
a line that could only bring it to disaster. But it was impossible to 
shut one's eyes to the lamentable fact that Nationahst Ireland, or, 
to speak with accuracy, the preponderating majority of those of our 
people who still retained faith in the efficacy of Constitutional agita- 
tion, had become hopelessly possessed of the disastrous idea that "the 
Party" — or to use the new-fangled term, its "leaders" — could do 
no wrong. Fair criticism was at an end, and any one, thorough- 
going Nationalist though he might be, who ventured to express an 
opinion at variance with theirs became at once a fair mark for every 
political adventurer in the country to assail with the easily handled 
epithets of "factionist," "wrecker" or "traitor." 

Having then a duty to discharge to the ecclesiastical position that 
I have the honor to hold, I felt that I could most fittingly indicate 
my strong view of the lamentable position of the Home Rule cause 
by what seemed to me a sufficiently striking indication of it — ab- 
solute abstention from everything that could be regarded as express- 
ing concurrence in the courses that was being pursued. 

The country seemed to be satisfied with that course. The Home 
Rule Act was on the statute book; it could not be displaced or modi- 
fied without "our" consent; the end of the war would automatically 
bring with it the reopening of our old Irish Parhament in College 
Green; and so on. 

As the necessary result of the abandonment of the policy of Inde- 
pendent Opposition — the only policy that can be followed with safety 
by Irish representatives in the British House of Commons — our 
country is now face to face with a truly awful prospect. 

The Home Rule Act is still on the statute book. Will Irish National- 
ists be any longer befooled by a repetition of the party cries, that this 
fact makes them masters of the situation; that the act cannot be 
modified without Nationalist consent; and that Ireland awaits only 
the end of the war to find the portals of the Old House in College 
Green automatically opened for the entry of the members of a Parlia- 
ment greater than Grattan's.'^ I remain, dear sir, faithfully yours, 

►J^ William J. Walsh, 

Archbishop's House, Dublin, Archbishop of Dublin. 

July 25, 1916. 



xxii PREFACE 

P.S. — I cannot close this letter without expressing my amaze- 
ment that the country has so long allowed its attention to be distracted 
with all sorts of side issues regarding the Irish Parliament that is to 
be, whilst an effective bar is kept up — for this is what it comes to 
— against all real consideration of the question whether the Par- 
liament that is to come to us is to be a Parhament in any sense worthy 
of the name. ►I^W. J. W. 

On September 14, 1916, for reasons which will be sufficiently 
obvious to those who have read the letter addressed to General 
Maxwell, Bishop O'Dwyer was presented with the freedom of 
the City of Limerick. In the course of his address on that 
occasion, he dealt at some length with the facts of the situation 
as he saw it. I quote the following report of his speech from 
one of the Irish papers : 

Since the war began they had heard a good deal about the Empire 
and their place in its greatness and their duties towards it. That 
argument did not appeal to him (Dr. O'Dwyer). An empire in any 
true sense consisted of a number of kingdoms, each of which was a 
unit, self-contained and self-governed, but all of which came together 
for their mutual support and benefit. But that was not the case as 
between England and Ireland. They had been deprived of all the 
attributes of a kingdom. They were a subject province. They 
were like Egypt, governed by English Satraps of an inferior kind, but 
in no sense were they constituents of the British Empire, as Canada 
and Australia were. Ireland was a nation, and never would be at 
rest until the center of gravity was within herself. 

They might think that prosperity would wean their people from 
the old cause; that education would turn thoughts into other channels. 
It was the flattering unction which tyrants were always laying to their 
souls; but the history of the world was against them. Ireland would 
never be content as a province. It was that national spirit that 
would yet vindicate their country, and not the petty intrigues of 
Parhamentary chicane. And if their representatives in Parliament 
had relied on it, instead of putting their faith in Asquith and Lloyd 
George and the Liberals, they would not be where they are to-day. 

By way of defense, some of them had been asking recently for an 
alternative poHcy. It was a rather cool demand. It was as if the 
captain of a ship, after running her on the rocks, invited the passengers 
to give their views of how the vessel should have been navigated. It 



PREFACE xxiii 

would be much more to the purpose for him to tell them how he pro- 
posed to get her off the rocks. Although like the mass of the people 
of this country, on whom the confidence trick had been played so 
disastrously, he (Dr. O'Dwyer) had no responsibihty for the present 
deplorable condition of things, he would state liis alternative to trust- 
ing the Party, who trusted the Liberals, and were now reduced to the 
statesmanship of Micawber — waiting for something to turn up. 

When war was being declared he would have said to the English 
Government: "Give us our National rights; set up a genuine Parlia- 
ment in Dublin, and we are with you; but, if you will not, then fight 
your own battles.'* 

Again, that very year, when the English Government played false, 
he would have said to the Irish members of Parliament: "Come 
home, shake the dust of the English House of Commons off your feet, 
and throw yourselves on the Irish Nation." 

"These are my alternatives," said his Lordship. "I think they 
would have been effective; but I fear that they would not be in favor 
with our present Parliamentarians. O'Connell used to say that Eng- 
land's difficulty was Ireland's opportunity. Alliance with English 
politicians is the alliance of the lamb with the wolf; and it is at this 
point precisely that I differ from the present political leaders, and 
believe that they have led, and are leading, the national cause to 
disaster. Some people imagine that, because I condemn the policy 
of certain politicians, I am their enemy, and even a bitter enemy. 
In this they are wrong. I entertain no enmity to any living person; 
but, if I am to speak at all on public questions, I must say the truth, 
and, if I put my views strongly, it is not for the purpose of offense, 
but because the matters at issue are of vital importance and touch 
my deepest feelings." 

These are statements which speak for themselves, and it 
has been my endeavor, wherever possible, to allow the various 
sides of the case to be stated by those who were themselves 
taking a leading part in the shaping of events. 

I would also like to have dealt more fully with the mag- 
nificent work done by the women of Dublin during the rising. 
Their deeds, however, speak louder and more eloquently than 
any words of mine. The chapter entitled the women of the 
NATION was written by my wife, Maire Hastings, who was 
more intimately acquainted with those of whom she writes 



xxiv PREFACE 

than I was. With this exception the responsibiUty for every 
statement rests upon myself. 

The chapters deahng with the actual fighting during the 
rebellion are compiled from the statements of many of the 
men who took an active part in the rising and who have since 
escaped to this country. It is not at this time considered wise 
to give their names to the public, but I wish in this place to 
express to them my gratitude for their invaluable assistance 
in making this portion of the work as complete as I trust the 
reader will find it. 

There is just one more point. There have been many state- 
ments made to the effect that the rising was engineered by the 
German Government or by German officials. The reader 
will find this aspect of the matter fully dealt with in the chap- 
ters that follow. I want to emphasize here that, whatever 
may be the individual opinion of the wisdom of the Republi- 
cans in declaring war on the British Empire, the fact must be 
admitted that they had no option but to do so or submit to 
disarmament, defeat, and disgrace and the surrender of all those 
things they held in sacred trust from their fathers before them. 

They took the boldest course because it was the only one 
possible for them; they had either to fight on their own soil 
or admit that all the hopes that Ireland held were held in vain. 
They rose, "the young, the gifted, the gallant and the daring," 
with pure hearts and clean hands, to kindle anew the sacred 
fire that shall flare high in Irish hearts until the end of time. 
With faith and joy unspeakable they went to the sacrifice, 
for they were girded around with the magic of a great love. 
They had *'bent low and low, and kissed the quiet feet of. 
Kathleen, the Daughter of Houlihan;" and, when they kissed 
them last, the feet of their love were red, for she was treading 
the only path that leads to freedom. 

But in her glory which is to come she will remember for ever 
and ever the noble ones who rose at Resurrection time, and 
fought to save her honor and died to save her soul. 

„ XT T Francis P. Jones 

HOBOKEN, N. J., 

March, 1917. 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

I. Sinn Fein and Education 1 

II. Sinn Fein and the Industrial Problem ... 8 

m. Sinn Fein and Protection 15 

IV. Sinn Fein and Commerce 21 

V. The Poor Law System 27 

VI. Sinn Fein and the Law Courts and Army . 34 

VII. Sinn Fein and Irish Finance 40 

VIII. The Council of Three Hundred 46 

IX. The Home Rule Bill 52 

X. Ireland at Westminster 59 

XI. The Parliament Act 66 

XII. Carson and his Volunteers 74 

XIII. The Irish Volunteers 81 

XIV. The Massacre of Bachelor's Walk 88 

XV. The King's Veto 96 

XVI. Under Which Flag? 104 

XVII. The Recruiting Serge.int 112 

XVIII. Fuel to the Flames 119 

XIX. The Coalition Cabinet 126 

XX. The Shadow of Conscription 133 

XXI. The Gathering of the Cl.\ns 138 

XXII. Righteous Men 143 

XXIII. The Spirit of the Gael 150 

XXIV. The Men of the People 157 

XXV. The Pen and the Sword 163 

XXVI. Fighting Men and Heroes 166 

XXVII. The Women of the Nation 171 

XXVIII. Thinkers and Men 178 

XXIX. The Irish in America 184 

XXX. Sir Roger Casement 19Q 

XXXI. Casement in America 196 

XXXII. The Plot to Kill Casement 202 

XXXIII. Straws on the Stream 210 

XXXIV. Planning the Rising 216 

XXXV. An Irish Republic 223 

XXXVI. Green, White, and Or.ajntge 226 

XXXVn. What Did Redmond Mean? 232 

XXV 



XXVI 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER PAGE 

XXXVin. Casement and the Irish Leadebs 239 

XXXIX. A Romance of the Sea 246 

XL. Planning a Pogrom 253 

XLI. The Fatal Order 262 

XLII. The O'Rahilly's Ride 270 

XLIII. The Nine Hours' Conference 278 

XLIV. The Twenty-fourth of April 285 

XLV. The First Blow 292 

XL VI. In Stephen's Green 299 

XLVn. The Attack on the Castle 306 

XLVm. At Roland's Mills 312 

XLIX. The Post Office Area 320 

L. The Four Courts 326 

LI. The British Scared 333 

LII. Getting to Grips 340 

LIII. The Fighting on Tuesday 348 

LIV. The Battle of Mount Street Bridge .... 355 

LV. The High Flame of Courage 361 

LVI. The Murder of Sheehy-Skeffington .... 369 

LVII. Hoping Against Hope 379 

LVIII. A Grim Night Scene 388 

LIX. The Triumph of Defeat 393 

LX. A Dublin Rebel's Story 400 

LXI. Other Provincial Centers 406 

LXII. The Blood-lust of the English 412 

LXni. How Casement Died 426 

Appendix 435 

Index 441 



HISTORY OF THE 
SINN FEIN MOVEMENT AND 
THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 



HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN 

MOVEMENT AND THE IRISH 

RERELLION OF I9I6 



T 



CHAPTER I 

Sinn Fein and Education 

HE bedrock of the Sinn Fein policy, which embraces 
every phase of Irish national life and activity, may 
fittingly be summed up in the following words : 



National self-development secured through the recognition of the 
duties and rights of citizenship on the part of the individual, and 
with the aid and support of all movements originating from within 
Ireland, which, instinct with national tradition, do not look outside 
Ireland for the accomplishment of their aims. 

This was the policy outlined at the First National Council 
Convention, held at the Rotunda, in Dublin, on Tuesday, 
November 28, 1905, under the presidency of Edward Marty n, 
at which the programme of the men who later became known 
as the Sinn Feiners was promulgated by Arthur Griffith. 

Many volumes might be written if a full and complete 
exposition of this policy were attempted, and considerable 
space must be devoted to it in order that its significance may 
be properly apprehended. It was, and is, a policy unique 
in its comprehensiveness, and it is also the best possible 
statement of the case for Ireland, since it embodies the facts 
of and reasons for Ireland's aspirations for freedom, and at 
the same time combines the best thought of many ages 
with the advances made by modern political and national 
economy. 

The first basic principle of the Sinn Fein policy is that the 
Irish are a free people, and must possess the rights of a free 



2 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

people until, of their own free will, they renounce them. 
A glance at the history of Ireland shows conclusively that 
this renunciation has never yet been made. 

If we accept this principle of government only with popu- 
lar consent, we are forced also to accept its necessary corol- 
lary, namely, that any external power that attempts to 
control, or does actually and by force control, the free actions 
of a people, is a tyranny. We are also forced to accept the 
further principle that it is the first duty of the citizen to 
oppose and seek to end that tyranny. Such may well be 
^termed the Sinn Fein philosophy. 

Coming now to the application of this policy to the case 
of Ireland, the Sinn Feiners pointed out that the tyranny 
(according to the foregoing definition) that oppressed Ireland 
was the English Government; and it was their contention 
that this government, to prevent its real character from being 
apprehended by the people, forced an educational system 
upon the people designed to make them oblivious of their 
rights as men and their duties as citizens. 

All departments of education in Ireland — primary, second- 
ary and university, — were directly controlled by the British 
Government through Boards consisting exclusively of its own 
nominees. These Boards fixed the courses and text-books, 
and clung to an educational policy adverse to the best inter- 
ests of the Irish people in the teeth of the universal criticism 
and opposition of Irish educationists. The language of Ire- 
land, the history of Ireland, the economics of Ireland, the 
industrial possibilities of Ireland, the rights of Ireland, found 
no place in their curricula. The only primary school system in 
Ireland that recognized Ireland was that of the Irish Christian 
Brothers, which affected, however, but a comparatively small 
portion of the people and received no public grant. 

The primary school system controlled by Government 
nominees was, as a system, intended to perpetuate that 
ignorance of Ireland which the British Penal Laws had once 
made legally compulsory. The pupil was not taught, as he is 
in every country elsewhere, to look out upon the world from 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 3 

his own country, and that his first duty is to his native land. 
The system in force taught him that he had no country, and 
therefore no national duty and no national standard of com- 
parison and value. He was forced to accept instead the 
standard of England. 

The secondary system of education, controlled also by a 
Board of British nominees, was likewise designed to prevent 
the higher intelligence of Ireland from performing its duty 
to the Irish race and state. In other countries secondary 
education supplies the leaders in industry and commerce. 
Its real object is to fit persons of average ability to play that 
part in the national economy of their own country for which 
they have special aptitude. From the national standpoint, 
education is an investment on which the pupil is later to 
pay interest by contributing his efforts towards the economic 
development of his country. But vocational training to fit 
young Irishmen to play their part in the development of their 
own country was unknown. Everything that might awaken 
their interest in Ireland was rigidly barred. British policy 
demanded that their thoughts be turned towards England, 
and that their horizon be an English one. In Ireland second- 
ary education was so framed as to cause an aversion from 
and a contempt for "trade" in the heads of young Irishmen, 
and to fix their eyes, like the fool's, on the ends of the earth. 
The system in vogue drew away from industrial pursuits 
those who were best fitted for them, and sent them to be 
Civil Servants in England, or to swell the ranks of struggling 
clerkdom in Ireland. An industrial Ireland might prove a 
rival of England. Although Ireland was scandalously over- 
taxed, as was attested by successive English Commissions; 
although the "equivalent grant" (which entitled Ireland to 
an increased educational appropriation in the same ratio as 
English and Scottish appropriations for education were in- 
creased) was consistently withheld, England strained every 
effort to cultivate the fiction that the Irish owed their educa- 
tion to a great act of grace on the part of the English people. 
The fact was that Ireland was paying an exorbitant price for 



4 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

an education that rendered her sons useless at home. And, 
instead of inculcating a sense of loyalty towards her and an 
appreciation of her sacrifices, this education was deliberately 
planned to unfit young Irishmen to repay their debt to their 
own country, which was, however, forced to pay dearly for 
her own degradation. 

When England appointed foreigners (as she invariably did) 
to important posts in Ireland, her excuse w^as that no Irish- 
man knew enough of that particular department of the 
business of his own country to qualify him for the post. 
Thus, the Department of Agriculture constantly justified its 
wholesale importations of foreigners on the ground that 
secondary education in Ireland produced no men qualified 
for the post. One British Government Department excused 
itself by casting the blame on another. 

It is, therefore, not surprising that university education in 
Ireland was regarded by the "classes" as a means of washing 
away the original sin of Irish birth. It was based on the 
inversion of Aristotle's dictum, as indeed the three systems of 
education in Ireland were. The young men who went to 
Trinity College were told by Aristotle that the end of educa- 
tion is to make men patriots, and by the professors of Trinity 
that Aristotle was not to be taken literally in Ireland. Uni- 
versity education in Ireland encumbered the intellect by 
imparting knowledge which led and pointed nowhere; it 
chilled the imagination and enthusiasm by cutting the young 
Irishman away from his traditions; by denying him a country, 
it debased his soul, while it enervated his body by denying 
him physical culture. If a comparison be required, imagine 
what would happen if everything that breathed of American 
history, of the men and the women who made America the 
great nation she is to-day, of America's fight for freedom, and 
of America's men of literature, science, and art, were taken 
away from the schoolbooks of the American nation, and the 
heroic tales and deeds of some other nation substituted in its 
place! If this were done, how many generations would elapse 
before the extinction of that spirit of patriotism and devotion. 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 5 

of America first and last and all the time, in short, of Sinn 
Fein, which is to-day so distinguishing a feature of the people 
of this country? 

Yet the system outlined above is the one on which the 
education of the children of Ireland has proceeded during the 
three-quarters of a century that has elapsed since education 
was a felony. The fact that even this eviscerated system was 
won only as the result of prolonged and bitter agitation is a 
sufficient commentary on English rule. This is a system 
which, as Aristotle says, ruins the individual and eventually 
the nation. If he had lived in Ireland, Aristotle would have 
been a seditious person in the eyes of the British Govern- 
ment, which now makes him subserve its aims by standing 
him on his head. Just as we learn our duty to society around 
us through the medium of the family, our obligations as 
citizens teach us our duties as men. Yet the English believe 
that, by teaching disloyalty and treachery to motherland, 
they can exact from Ireland a loyalty for an Empire which, 
in so far as it is not merely mythical for Irishmen, stands in 
their eyes as the agent of monstrous oppression, unparalleled 
cruelty, and savage injustice and as the mouthpiece of im- 
placable hatred for everything pertaining to the Gael. Peace 
between the islands through such a policy can be won only 
at the price of the entire destruction of Gaelic civilization 
and all who uphold it. If empires are entitled to wreak such 
vengeance on opponents of their policy, let it at least be so 
stated frankly, and let us at least be rid of the hypocrisy with 
w^hich the policy is now disguised. 

The problem before the Sinn Feiners was how to remedy 
this state of affairs in education. They took the stand that, 
if the control of primary education was not voluntarily trans- 
ferred from the British Government to the Irish people, it 
was the duty of the Irish people to take over the primary 
education system themselves. It was pointed out that they 
could do this in the first place by transferring, where possible, 
the pupils of the misnamed "National" Schools to the 
schools of the Irish Christian Brothers, and, where this was 



6 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

not practicable, by founding voluntary schools, sustained in 
part by the contributions of the parents and in part from 
a National Education Fund subscribed to annually by the 
Irish people throughout the world. That this was not im- 
possible, was shown by the fact that Hungary had done it 
forty years before, and that Poland had followed suit. The 
result was shown in the manner in which Hungary threw off 
the Austrian chain, and the manner in which Poland, prior 
to the outbreak of the war, was fast loosening the hold of the 
Russian autocracy on its national life. 

At the same time it was not forgotten that the Irish people 
could not afford to withdraw in a body their school children 
from the "National" Schools, for they would not have had 
sufficient funds in hand to cope with the educational crisis 
thus created. The plan that was formulated, and that was 
carried out in part and would have been carried to a finish 
had not the war intervened, was more practicable. This plan 
provided for a period of educating public opinion on the vital 
importance of the matter, of preparation for coping with the 
demand for a really national system of education. At the 
end of this period, should control of the primary system still 
be withheld, then the Sinn Feiners would order a school 
strike, as the Nationalists of Poland had done, and replace 
the old system by one that would teach the Irish child to 
glory in his country and desire to serve her. 

As to the Irishing of the secondary system, the Sinn Feiners 
depended with confidence on the sympathy and support of 
the clergy and especially on the Irish Christian Brothers, who 
were expected to ignore the Intermediate Board and substitute 
a system devised by themselves in conjunction with the 
Gaelic League and Irish educationists. The Irish Christian 
Brothers had been the pioneers in primary education from 
the moment when teaching in Ireland ceased to be illegal. 
There was no doubt, therefore, that they would be ready to 
gain an additional distinction by pioneering a secondary sys- 
tem of education such as Ireland needed. It was equally 
certain that the Irish nation, coming into the dawn of a new 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 7 

life, would see to it that they did not suffer as a consequence 
of their patriotism. 

As to the university system two solutions were offered. 
One was the nationalizing of Trinity College, the other the 
establishment of a national university by the Irish people. 
By a national university was meant a democratic university, 
to whose halls wealth would not be the only passport. The 
Sinn Feiners recognized the fact that, if they decided on the 
foundation of an Irish university (as they eventually did 
decide) on the same lines as that founded by the patriots of 
Hungary, they would have to do as the Hungarians did, and 
largely support it out of endowments made by their sym- 
pathizers. They believed sufficiently in the patriotism of 
Irishmen abroad to know that they would help to endow such 
a university. They knew that within Ireland they would 
secure endowments from Irishmen and groups of Irishmen. 
The fact that the Irish National University on the lines 
suggested was soon after endowed and established, and that 
it has begun to compete successfully with the best seats of 
learning in Europe, is the best possible proof of the soundness 
of this portion of the Sinn Fein policy. It is not perhaps 
without significance that Professor Eoin MacNeill was a 
member of the university, and that among his colleagues 
was Thomas MacDonagh, one of the seven martyred signers 
of the Irish Declaration of Independence. 

The Sinn Fein leaders recognized that the only way of 
dealing with this problem was through the Irish people them- 
selves, and that the replacing of the denationalizing system 
of education in Ireland by a nationalizing system rested with 
the men and women of Ireland, and not with the British 
Government. If it was worth having, it was worth making 
sacrifices to obtain, and they were confident that, if the same 
spirit which prevailed in Hungary, Finland, and Poland — the 
spirit of self-reliance — were evoked in Ireland, they could 
not fail. 



CHAPTER II 

Sinn Fein and the Industrial Problem 

NEXT in order to the education question in Ireland 
came the problem of the industries, and the greatest 
of these was, and still should be, farming. A glance 
at the economic history of Ireland, however, revealed the 
fact that farming in Ireland was rapidly resolving itself into 
the cattle trade — a condition in which most people acquiesced 
unthinkingly, not apparently being aware that around the 
industrial situation centers fifty per cent of the Irish "ques- 
tion." While volumes might be written on this phase of the 
subject alone, it is not the intention here to do more than to 
enter into a brief exposition of the matter and the manner in 
which the Sinn Feiners handled it. 

The tilled land in Ireland had decreased by one-fourth 
during the previous generation. This simple statement has a 
terrible bearing on recent history. Over a million acres that 
were crop-bearing in 1871 had been converted into grazing 
ground before 1905, and the cattle trade that had absorbed 
this was threatened with destruction by the competition of 
the Argentine and Canada. In this extremity we find, in 
the period just before the outbreak of the war. County 
Councils in Ireland devoting some of their funds to the 
encouragement of cattle raising, and the Royal Dublin Society 
allocating funds for the same purpose. It was not difficult 
to understand the actions of the Royal Dublin Society — an 
institution which, since the extinction of the Irish Parliament, 
has been one of the agencies through which the British Gov- 
ernment works out its will in Ireland. Since the time when 
Lord Carlisle, on behalf of the British Government, issued an 
order to discourage tillage in Ireland, the Royal Dublin 



THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 9 

Society had done yeoman service in helping to sweep the 
people from the soil. 

The perverted educational system may account for the 
action of the County Councils. The fact which apparently 
had been forgotten, but which the Sinn Feiners again forced 
into the domain of practical politics, was that, if the soil of 
Ireland was again to be brought under cultivation — and it 
was vital that this should be done — it was necessary that 
the County Councils, which were then by premiums encourag- 
ing grazing, should withdraw these premiums and devote 
them to tillage-farming. The Sinn Feiners held that an 
agricultural and manufacturing union was necessary in the 
country's interest — a union of manufacturers and farmers, 
classes which, for some mysterious reason, persisted in being 
unfriendly to each other and failed to reahze their inter- 
dependence. 

The farmer was indifferent towards the industrial revival, 
failing to realize the increased market an Ireland with a 
manufacturing arm meant to the agriculturist; and the 
manufacturer was indifferent to the agricultural question, 
failing to see that an extension of agriculture — the extension 
of tillage — meant the extension of the market for his produce. 
Their failure to grasp this rudimentary principle of political 
economy is in itself a sufficiently damning indictment of the 
Irish educational system. It was and continued to be one 
of the worst anomalies in Ireland that the manufacturing 
population should be largely subsisting on foreign food. 
There is no genuine reason for this state of affairs in a country 
capable of feeding at least fifteen times its present population. 
It is due to the ignorance of elementary economics and to the 
lack of a truly Irish Board of Agriculture to give the necessary 
guidance and lead. It came as a happy omen at the opening 
of the Sinn Fein campaign that the industrial conference in 
Cork had just declared with practical unanimity against the 
British-made economic policy which had been thrust upon 
the country to its commercial injury. Lest there be those 
who are under the impression that this condition of economic 



10 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

affairs and the evils that arose out of them be laid unjustly 
at the door of the British Government, it is only necessary to 
refer them to any history of Ireland, where they will read the 
many British statutes that were made for the express and 
declared purpose of crippling and putting out of existence 
every vestige of industry in Ireland, and turning the entire 
country into one huge cattle ranch. England's gain from this 
policy is very evident, since, as a manufacturing country, her 
chief desire is to crush industrial rivals and to obtain an 
abundance of cheap food. 

The anglicization of the Irish mind is best exhibited in its 
attitude towards economics. The system of economics which 
Adam Smith and his successors had invented for the purpose 
of obtaining control of the world's markets for England was 
accepted by the Irish people, prior to the advent of Sinn 
Fein, as the quintessence of wisdom. It mattered not that 
all Europe had rejected it — that the United States of 
America, the most progressive country in the world, had 
also definitely rejected it. England still held on, and does 
so to the present day, and its application is responsible for 
much of the current social misery and unrest. iVnd because 
England held on, Ireland, under the British system of educa- 
tion, perforce accepted the " as-good-and-as-cheap " shibboleth 
as a gospel. That, said the Sinn Feiners, with the rest of the 
similar impositions and humbug of the system, would have 
to be bundled out of the country. 

Arthur Griflfith, the founder and expounder of the Sinn Fein 
policy, was, in economics, largely the follower of the man 
who was responsible for the formation of the mighty con- 
federation which was fast becoming England's serious rival 
for the trade supremacy of the world — Germany. The 
name of Frederick List is a famous one throughout the 
civilized world, and his works are text-books of economic 
science outside Ireland. In Ireland, before the rise of the 
Sinn Fein movement, his works were unheard of and his name 
unknown. Germany had hailed List as the Preserver of the 
Fatherland, and Louis Kossuth bestowed on him the title of 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 11 

the Economic Father of the Nations. The Sinn Feiners 
believed there was room for him also in Ireland and in her 
educational system. 

Following List, the Sinn Feiners held that the Irish people 
should reject that so-called political economy which neither 
recognized the principle of nationality nor took into con- 
sideration the satisfaction of its interests; which regarded 
chiefly the mere exchangeable value of things without taking 
into consideration the mental and political, the present and 
the future interests and the productive powers of the nation; 
which ignored the nature and character of social labor and 
the operation of the union of powers in their higher conse- 
quences, and considered private industry only as it would 
develop itself under a free interchange with the whole human 
race were it not divided into separate nations. They accepted, 
with List, the theory that between the individual and hu- 
manity stands, and must continue to stand, one great fact. 
This fact is the Nation, with its special language and litera- 
ture, with its peculiar origin and history, with its special 
manners and customs, laws and institutions, with the claims 
of all these for existence, independence, perfection, and con- 
tinuance for the future, and with its separate territory; a 
society which, united by a thousand ties of mind and interests, 
forms one independent whole, which recognizes the law of 
right for and within itself, which in its united character is 
distinct from other societies of a similar kind, and conse- 
quently can only, under the existing conditions of the world, 
maintain self-existence and independence by its own power 
and resources. As the individual obtains mental culture, 
power of production, security and prosperity, chiefly by means 
of the nation and in the nation, so is the civilization of the 
human race only conceivable and possible by means of the 
civilization and development of individual nations. But, as 
there are among men infinite differences in condition and 
circumstance, so there are in nations. Some are strong, some 
are weak, some are highly civilized, some are half civilized; 
but in all states, as in the unit, the impulse of self-preservation 



12 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

and the desire for improvement exist in a greater or smaller 
degree. 

The Sinn Feiners held it the task of national politics to 
insure existence and continuance to the nation, to make the 
weak strong and the civiUzed more civilized. They held it 
the task of national economics to accomplish the economic 
development of the nation, and fit it for admission into the 
one universal society of the future. They took as their 
definition of the normal nation, such as they desired to make 
Ireland, a nation possessing a common language and hterature, 
a territory endowed with manifold natural resources, with 
convenient frontiers and a numerous population; a nation 
where agriculture, manufactures, commerce and navigation 
would all be developed proportionately, and where arts and 
sciences, educational establishments, and universal culture 
would have an equal footing with material production. Its 
constitution, laws, and institutions would afford to its citizens 
a high degree of security and liberty, and would promote 
religion, morality, and prosperity. It must possess sufficient 
power to defend its independence and to promote its foreign 
commerce. They held that in the economy of Adam Smith, 
and particularly as it was applied to Ireland, there was no 
place for the soul of a nation; to him the associations of the 
past possessed no value. In the economy of List the nation 
not only possessed a place, but the highest place, and that 
is why it appealed so powerfully to the leaders of the Sinn 
Fein movement. 

In Ireland, on the other hand, the people had been taught 
by British Education Boards and British officials that the 
destiny of Ireland was to be the fruitful mother of flocks and 
herds, and act as a handmaid of England; that it was not 
necessary for the Irish people to pay attention to their 
manufacturing arm, since their agricultural arm was all- 
sufficient. This, said the Sinn Feiners, was a fallacy that 
dissolved before reflection; but it was a fallacy that had 
passed for truth in Ireland. They replied that a nation 
could not promote and further its civiHzation, its prosperity. 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 13 

and its social progress by exchanging agricultural products for 
manufactured goods as efficiently as by establishing a manu- 
facturing power of its own. A merely agricultural nation 
could never develop to any extent a home or a foreign com- 
merce, with inland means of transport and foreign navigation, 
increase its population in due proportion to their well-being, 
or make notable progress in its moral, intellectual, social, and 
political development: it would never acquire important 
political power, or be placed in a position to influence the 
civilization and progress of less advanced nations. A mere 
agricultural state was infinitely less powerful than an agricul- 
tural manufacturing state. The former was always economi- 
cally and politically dependent on those foreign nations which 
took from it agricultural products in exchange for manu- 
factured articles. It could not determine how much it should 
produce, but would have to wait and see how much others 
would buy from it. The agricultural manufacturing states, 
on the contrary, could produce for themselves large quantities 
of raw materials and provisions, and supply merely the 
deficiency from importation. The purely agricultural nations 
were thus dependent for the power of effecting sales on the 
chances of a more or less bountiful harvest in the agricultural 
manufacturing nations. They had, moreover, to compete in 
their sales with other purely agricultural nations, whereby 
the power of sale in itself was rendered uncertain. An 
agricultural nation was as a man with one arm who made use 
of an arm belonging to another person, but could not, of 
course, be sure of having it always available. An agricul- 
tural manufacturing nation was a man who had two arms of 
his own always at his own disposal. 

The Sinn Feiners appealed to the Irish people to get rid of 
the fallacious idea that the agricultural and manufacturing 
interests were opposed. They declared they were necessary 
one to the other, and that one could not be injured without 
the other suffering hurt. They asked the Irish people to 
clear their minds of the pernicious idea that they were not 
entitled or called upon to give preferential aid to the manu- 



14 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

facturing industries of their own country. They declared 
that, if that idea were not met and combated, there would 
be an end to all hope of the development of an Irish manu- 
facturing arm, and of the hope of Ireland coming into the 
birthright of her nationality. They told the people that only 
in the soil of general prosperity does the national spirit strike 
its root, produce fine blossoms and rich fruit; that only from 
the unity of material interests does mental power arise, and 
again from both of them national power. 

Therefore, they made it their declaration that it was the 
policy of the Sinn Fein National Council to bring about that 
unity of material interests which produces national strength, 
to convince the manufacturer that every improvement in 
agriculture would increase his home market, and the agricul- 
turist that every extension of the manufacturing industry 
would promote his welfare. In short, to convince both that 
there could be no permanent prosperity for either unless the 
nation as a whole was prosperous. The logical outcome of 
this teaching was that the Irish people must offer their 
producers protection where protection was necessary. 



CHAPTER III 

Sinn Fein and Protection 

PROTECTION, as defined by the Sinn Feiners, did 
not mean the exclusion of foreign competition; it 
meant rendering the native manufacturer equal to 
meeting foreign competition. They did not advise that the 
Irish people should pay a higher profit to any Irish manu- 
facturer, but that they should not stand by and see him 
crushed by mere weight of foreign capital. They took the 
stand that, if an Irish manufacturer could not produce an 
article as cheaply as an English or other foreign manufacturer 
only because his foreign competitor had at present larger 
resources at his disposal, it was the first duty of the Irish 
nation to accord protection to that Irish manufacturer. If, 
on the other hand, an Irish manufacturer could produce as 
cheaply, but charged an enhanced price, that man deserved 
no support; he was, on the contrary, to be branded as a 
swindler. 

It was held to be the duty of the Irish public bodies, in 
whose hands the expenditure of $20,000,000 annually was 
placed, to pay an enhanced price for Irish-manufactured 
articles, when the manufacturers were able to show that they 
could not produce them at the lesser price; that was Protec- 
tion. This was also the duty of the individual. But it was 
contrary to the principle of Protection, and to the interests 
of the country, that a manufacturer in Ireland who could 
produce as cheaply as his foreign competitor should receive 
an enhanced price. The movement was one designed pri- 
marily to give back to Ireland her manufacturing arm, not 
to make fortunes for dishonest manufacturers. The ques- 
tion as to the manner in which this was to be accom- 
plished was considered very carefully and thoroughly by the 



16 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

Sinn Fein leaders, and the plan eventually decided on was 
one that proved to be remarkably fruitful of results, and 
would, in the fullness of time, have achieved complete success 
had the war not intervened. 

It was decided that the solution of the problem lay primarily 
with the individual, since the Irish people were powerless to 
influence the general administration of their country; secondly, 
through the County, Urban, and District Councils and Poor 
Law Guardians; thirdly, by endeavoring to secure control 
of the inefficient bodies known as Harbor Commissioners; 
fourthly, by stimulating the Irish manufacturers and the 
Irish people to industrial enterprise; and, fifthly, by inviting 
Irish-American capital to aid in Irish development, on a 
purely commercial basis. 

In the first place it was pointed out to every individual 
that, except where fraud was attempted, it was his or her 
duty to pay, if necessary, an enhanced price for Irish goods, 
and to use, wherever possible, none but Irish goods. As to 
the Irish elective bodies, which controlled the expenditure of 
Irish local taxation, their duty lay along the same lines as 
that of the individual. The duty of the Irish harbor bodies 
was to arrange the incidence of port dues so that they should 
fall most heavily on manufactured goods entering the country, 
and to keep and publish a table of all goods imported and 
to whom consigned. In all these respects the Irish Harbor 
Boards had hitherto failed. These boards were in most 
cases composed of English shipping representatives and Irish 
importers of foreign goods, whose interests were diametrically 
opposed to the general interests of the Irish nation. A short 
time before the promulgation of the Sinn Fein policy, and 
only after considerable agitation, the Dublin Port and Docks 
Board had been driven to publish an annual return of the 
foreign goods imported into the capital of Ireland by sea, 
and the return had appalled all who read it. The Cork and 
other Harbor Boards refused to follow the example of Dublin, 
thus publicly proclaiming themselves tools of England in her 
frantic efforts to conceal the true economic condition of 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 17 

Ireland from the Irish people. The Sinn Feiners submitted 
the question to the people, and asked them if they were 
going to tolerate this anti-Irish action of supposedly Irish 
Boards. They said that the Irish people had a right to know 
what foreign goods were being imported into every part of 
Ireland, and who it was that received them. In other words, 
they wanted to know what it was open to every citizen of a 
free country to know, but the information was insolently 
refused them by Boards of English nominees. The Sinn 
Feiners demanded that the port taxation be removed from 
raw materials and placed on manufactured goods. They 
were told that this taxation was so small as to be inappre- 
ciable. Small it certainly was, but not inappreciable. This 
was well demonstrated when it was sought to have the 
incidence of port taxation altered in Dublin, and the Port 
and Docks Board, so far from considering the matter inap- 
preciable or insignificant, fought as fiercely as ever it fought 
to prevent increased dues being placed upon manufactured 
goods brought into the port of Dublin. This increase would 
have been small indeed, but it would have given to Ireland 
the principle of protection, and that was the end sought. 

Further, the Sinn Feiners held that the Irish Harbor Boards 
must be manned for Ireland by men who desired to benefit 
Ireland, not by shipping agents of English firms and im- 
porters; that a general scheme of port taxation would have 
to be adopted throwing the bulk of the port dues on manu- 
factured goods, and a perfect tally kept at all Irish ports 
of such goods, whence they came and to whom they were 
consigned, and that this tally should be published each 
month. They declared that, once this was done, the least 
imaginative of the people would be forced to realize what 
was taking place in the country industrially. This realization 
would doubtless spur them to support their own industries, 
and would possibly induce them to invest their earnings in 
the industrial enterprises of their own country. 

Regarding the introduction of foreign capital, it is scarcely 
necessary to state that the Sinn Feiners did not want British 



18 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

capital, which would forge a new link in the chain binding 
them to England. What they did ask for was American and 
Irish-American capital. They were careful to point out that 
they did not ask, nor would they accept, charity. They 
declared that they could show the investor that Ireland was 
a good field for his money, and that Ireland was something 
more than a rich and unexploited field. As briefly as possible, 
the proposal was as follows: That the General Council of the 
Councils should have the country surveyed with a view to 
the profitable development of its natural resources, and, 
having had the cost and return estimated as accurately as 
possible, should then invite the foreign investor to look into 
the matter. It was known that Ireland could offer 174,000,- 
000 tons of coal, the finest fuel in Europe and practically 
untouched, and an inexhaustible supply of peat to operate 
the factories, and that the investors would have at their 
disposal all the facilities possessed by the County Councils 
and Rural Councils of Ireland, and the assistance and good- 
will of the Irish people in turning Irish coal and peat into 
gold. The investors would offer in return profitable employ- 
ment to a large number of the Irish people, and an enormous 
increase of strength socially, industrially, and politically. 

The Protection plank in the Sinn Fein platform was, need- 
less to say, one that would require many years to work out. 
It was manifest, on the face of it, that the entire programme 
was the work for a generation. Yet the manner in which 
the industrial policy gained root and spread throughout the 
country soon made it the object of the attention of the 
powers that were opposed to the manufacturing interests of 
Ireland. Needless to say, the opposition that developed was 
not altogether on the surface, but it was not long, neverthe- 
less, in making itself felt. 

The duty of the individual, placed first by the Sinn Feiners, 
was the first that brought results. Throughout the country 
the policy of asking for and getting goods of Irish manu- 
facture was acted upon by the people. It was suddenly 
discovered that quite a number of articles manufactured at 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 19 

home were as good and even better than the foreign-made 
article. The main difference was that the foreign-made arti- 
cle was as a rule widely advertised, while the Irish product 
was not, the reason being not far to seek. The Sinn Fein 
policy had the effect of supplying the advertisement for the 
Irish product, with the result that there was an immediate 
increase in the sales of Irish-manufactured goods. This, as a 
natural consequence, resulted in a decrease in the sale of the 
foreign article, which, in its turn, had the effect of arousing 
the opposition of English manufacturers. 

As a concrete instance, mention may be made of the Irish 
tobacco industry. The statement made by the Sinn Feiners 
that there was room for the establishment of an Irish tobacco 
industry in Ireland was made the object of a great deal of 
cheap wit in the British press. Yet, under the inspiration of 
the Sinn Fein policy, the tobacco industry not only became 
an established fact, but, in the course of a few years, became 
a serious rival to the tobacco trust in England — so far, that 
is, as the sale of cigarettes, pipe tobacco, and cigars in Ireland 
was concerned. It must be admitted that the smoking of 
the Irish tobacco at the outset was no slight test of patriotism, 
but, with increased experience in the preparation and curing 
of the dried leaf, it was not long before the Irish article be- 
came a genuine pleasure. In addition to this, Irish tobacco 
possesses a flavor that is peculiar to itself, and which soon 
became a habit with smokers. 

Foreign opposition was not slow in developing, with the 
result that efforts were made to delude the Irish public into 
purchasing foreign goods as Irish. Irish names were attached 
to goods that never saw Ireland until they were brought into 
the country ready for sale. The Sinn Feiners discovered the 
fraud, and countered by the establishment of the Irish trade- 
mark. A sign peculiar to Ireland was agreed upon, namely 
a scroll device representing the legendary Collar of Malachi, 
surrounded by the words, Deantha i nEirinn (Made in Ire- 
land). The use of this sign was permitted to manufacturers 
who could show that their goods were made in the country, 



20 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

and every infringement was prosecuted under the British 
Trades Mark Law, the Irish people being for once able to 
use British law to their own advantage. The Irish trademark 
became the standard of value in Ireland, and the policy of 
the Sinn Feiners was soon on the way to restore to Ireland 
her lost manufacturing arm. 

There was one other thing that this phase of the movement 
accomplished. It brought home to many young Irish men 
and women the lesson of practical patriotism and paved the 
way for a further advance. It taught them to look into the 
possibilities of Ireland from more than one point of view; it 
demonstrated the fact that they had a country to call their 
own, a country that could and should become something 
more than a cattle ranch or an interesting stopping-off place 
for the tourist. Little by little it turned their minds to the 
fact that Ireland possessed vast resources of mineral wealth 
under the earth and unique facilities for the development of 
industries over it. It imbued them with the pride that comes 
from the knowledge that the country of one's nativity is one 
that has by right a place in the world, and it fired their 
patriotic imagination in a manner that rendered the soil 
fertile for the events that were to leave a lasting mark on 
the history of the days already casting their lengthening 
shadows over the land. 

The lesson that was borne in upon the people of Ireland at 
this time may well be summed up in the words of List. 
"Let us only have courage," he wrote, **to believe in a great 
national future, and, in that belief, march onward. x\bove 
all, let us have national spirit enough at once to plant and 
protect that tree which will yield its richest fruits in the 
future generation. First, let us gain possession of the home 
market, so far at least as respects articles of general necessity, 
and, secondly, let us try to procure the goods of other coun- 
tries and pay for them with our own manufactured goods." 



CHAPTER IV 

Sinn Fein and Commerce 

PRACTICALLY speaking, Ireland had no mercantile ma- 
rine. A few coasting steamers and cross-channel vessels 
and three small lines of steamers running to Conti- 
nental ports were all that was left of the commercial fleet 
of Ireland, which was at one time among the greatest in 
the world. Between the end of the sixteenth century and 
1777 it dwindled as the consequence of the laws directed 
against it by England, until at the latter date it was of no 
importance. The Volunteer movement of 1780, by compelling 
England to cancel all her restrictive laws on Irish commerce 
and shipping, brought again into existence a powerful Irish 
mercantile marine, and its growth was so rapid that within 
five years (in 1785) Tucker, the well-known Dean of Glouces- 
ter, counseled English shipowners to fit out their vessels under 
the Irish national flag, since the Irish marine was ousting the 
English from the ports of Europe. 

Sixty years prior to 1905 Germany had little or no mer- 
cantile marine, and shipped its goods in foreign bottoms. 
Frederick List urged upon his countrymen that it was vital 
they should possess a marine of their own, and laid the 
foundation of the magnificent marine which Germany has 
to-day. The importance of a mercantile marine cannot be 
minimized. Without the carrying trade England would 
not possess a tithe of her present commercial importance, and 
Norway would be a negligible factor in the economic life of 
the world. Norway, with a population of less than half of 
Ireland's, had in 1905 a mercantile marine of 1,500,000 tons. 
Belgium, with a coast line scarcely as long as that of Dublin, 
was, prior to the war, building up a great merchant navy. 
At the present time (1917) the want of a mercantile navy in 



22 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

the United States is being keenly felt. Through the lack of 
a mercantile marine, Ireland was debarred from its best 
markets, deprived of its share in the miiversal carrying trade, 
and was out of touch with the commercial centers of the 
world. 

What was Ireland's share .f^ Let us say one per cent, which 
is very low considering the ideal situation enjoyed by Ireland 
for foreign trade. The countries from which Ireland im- 
ported, outside of England, comprised the Republics of the 
United States, Argentina, and Chili, and the Dominion of 
Canada, in America; in the east, India, Australia, and Japan; 
and within Europe, France, Germany, Belgium, Holland, 
Spain, Portugal, Denmark, Italy, Austro-Hungary, and 
Russia. The total annual imports of these countries repre- 
sented $10,000,000,000. One per cent of that trade would 
mean an increased revenue for Ireland of $100,000,000 
annually. 

Was it not then, asked the Sinn Feiners, worth while to 
start in to build an Irish mercantile marine? Ireland had 
one of the greatest ship-building plants in the world. She 
had the best and safest harbors, and enjoyed an ideal situation 
at the very gate leading to the most progressive countries in 
Europe. Ireland had an abundance of the material out of 
which sailors are made, and was the natural terminal of a 
trans-Atlantic service. Ireland had also $250,000,000 lying 
idle in its banks. Let Ireland cultivate the spirit and initia- 
tive of a free people; she had been content long enough to 
depend on and look to a foreign Parliament, whereas other 
nations looked to and trusted in themselves. The great 
marine of Norway had been built up by its own people. 
There was scarcely a man in the towns and cities of Norway 
who was not a part owner of a ship. Through the patriotism 
of her people, Norway had built up a great commercial navy, 
whose flag was familiar in every port of the world. Nearer 
home to Ireland was Scotland, and Scotland also possessed a 
very fine marine. There were Scottish "tramp" steamers to 
be met with in all parts of the world, but no one ever saw an 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 23 

Irish "tramp" steamer. The Sinn Feiners asked if there 
were any Irish shipowners with enough enterprise to fit out 
"tramp" steamers, and said that, if there were, they would 
not benefit themselves alone, but their country also. They 
pointed out that a "tramp" line between Ireland and South 
America, for instance, and calling at French, Spanish, and 
other ports en route, could not fail to pay its owners, whilst 
it would open up for Ireland a lucrative trade and lower in 
Ireland itself the prices of goods, non-competing with Irish 
manufacture, which were being imported through England. 
"At the present time," said the Sinn Fein leaders, "Ireland 
has little trade with any outside country, not because she 
does not produce many things which the other countries 
want and buy, but because England blocks the way with her 
middleman's profit." They declared that, so long as Ireland 
had no mercantile marine of her own and no consular repre- 
sentation abroad, this must of necessity continue to remain 
the case. 

It is scarcely necessary to point out that the British Con- 
sular Service has always been, and still is, run solely and 
absolutely in the interests of Britain. Ireland, however, is 
taxed to pay for its upkeep. The British Consul announces 
on his brass doorplate that he represents the United Kingdom 
of Great Britain and Ireland. The proportion in which he 
represents Great Britain and Ireland is shown in the export 
figures for the year 1904, the year previous to the proclamation 
of the Sinn Fein policy in Dublin. In that year the "United 
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland" exported over 
$15,300,000,000 worth of goods; of that total Great Britain 
exported $15,295,000,000 and Ireland the remaining $5,000,000 
worth. In other words, of the exports of the "United King- 
dom of Great Britain and Ireland" Britain claimed 99fJ per 
cent, and Ireland the remaining -jV of one per cent. This 
result, said the Sinn Feiners, exhibited equally the benefit 
which Ireland derived from her connection with Great Britain 
and the efficacy of the consular service — for Great Britain. 
They stated that the remedy for this state of affairs was for 



24 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

Ireland to appoint her own consuls, to send Irishmen to act 
as consuls in foreign countries, instead of sending them to 
"orate" in the British Parliament. A portion of the $125,000, 
that Ireland then subscribed annually to keep eighty Irishmen 
in London, would be better employed in keeping about half 
that number of Irishmen stationed in the capitals and com- 
mercial centers of foreign countries, where a market might 
be found for Irish products. 

It was pointed out that Argentina procured one-third of her 
total imports from Great Britain; North America one-fifth; 
Spain, Russia, and Japan one-fifth each; Scandinavia one- 
fourth; Holland one-fourth; Hungary one-tweKth; Belgium 
one-twelfth; Australia one-third; and South Africa and India 
two-thirds. To assist Great Britain in securing so much 
trade, the Irish people imported from these countries and 
consumed millions of dollars' worth of their goods; and, as 
all these goods were procured through the medium of England, 
Ireland had in every case to pay a middleman's profit. The 
Sinn Feiners proposed that, in return for Irish consumption 
of the goods of the countries named, Ireland should have its 
share in exporting goods to them. For this purpose the Irish 
people should choose and appoint, from year to year, com- 
petent men of business training, character, and linguistic 
knowledge, to form an Irish Consular Service, and to act in 
all respects as the consuls of other countries do. The coun- 
tries in which profitable markets might be expected from the 
appointment of Irish consular representatives were the United 
States, Argentina and Chili, Canada, Australia, South Africa, 
France, Germany, Belgium, Holland, Spain, Russia, Japan, 
Denmark, Italy, and Austro-Hungary. There were, it was 
pointed out, possible fields for the Irish producer in every one 
of the countries named. In addition to the increase of 
revenue, the increase of trade and commerce would also have 
the effect of bringing back the population of Ireland to the 
figure it stood at in 1845. It was stated that the maintenance 
of a Consular Service of thirty or forty men would cost the 
country annually about one-half the sum the maintenance of 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 ^5 

an Irish Parliamentary party in London at that time cost, 
and imder no circumstances could this service fail to repay 
the outlay. 

Having thus dealt with oversea transit, the Sinn Feiners 
turned to the problems of their internal system, and declared 
in the first place that it was about as bad as maladministra- 
tion could make it. Owing to the attitude of the railroad 
owners, the development of the country was materially 
hampered. Controlled by British capital, the Irish railroads 
had two schedules of freight charges: one extremely high, 
which regulated the rates between different localities in Ire- 
land; the other excessively low, which regulated the rates 
between England and Ireland. As a consequence of this 
topsy-turvy situation, a parallel to which could be found only 
in musical comedy, it is cheaper to export goods to England 
and to have them reshipped to their destination in Ireland 
than to send them direct. The effect of this strangling 
condition is easy to imagine. The Arigna coal mines, for 
instance, produced as good a coal as the best that Great 
Britain could produce, but owing to the railroad rates it was 
impossible to get it generally on the Irish market. The Sinn 
Feiners declared that they could not make up for the defi- 
ciency of the railroads, but that they might certainly do much 
to relieve the situation by the proper utilization of the semi- 
derelict canal system. A well-devised scheme of canal and 
river service under the control of the Irish County Councils 
would go a considerable distance in the direction of properly 
distributing the products of the country, and at the time a 
scheme was being drafted for the purpose, although some of 
these canals were controlled, and deliberately left unutilized, 
by the railroad magnates. 

Following the discussion of these problems the Sinn Fein 
policy took up a number of other equally important matters, 
not the least among these being the poor law system, afforesta- 
tion, national civil service, national courts of law, national 
stock exchange and banking systems, and a number of others 
that will briefly be touched upon in the following chapters. 



26 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

It may be well, however, to indicate here one of the reasons 
why the policies advocated by the Sinn Feiners were not 
carried out in their entirety from the first. That their argu- 
ments were, in the vast majority of instances, sound and 
logical, was admitted even by those who had personal reasons 
to be opposed to them. Why then did the Irish people not 
take them up immediately, and put them into operation? 
The main reason for postponing the application of the Sinn 
Fein policy was the fear of hampering the Parliamentary 
Party, who were sent to Westminster for the purpose of 
securing the legislative repeal of the Union, or, as it was 
generally called, Home Rule for Ireland. 



CHAPTER V 

The Poor Law System 

THE poverty of Ireland has become almost a byword 
among the nations. People have become accustomed 
to thinking of Ireland as a land of hovels, where 
half-civilized men, women, and children roam barefooted 
through a wilderness of bog and mire. This ridiculous picture 
has again and again been painted for the benefit of the unso- 
phisticated foreigner by English writers, whose actual igno- 
rance of Ireland is equaled only by their wealth of imagination. 
While Ireland is neither a land of hovels, nor of bogs and mire, 
that poverty exists is nevertheless a fact. That poverty seems 
more helpless in Ireland than elsewhere, is likewise true, since 
England is determined that a prosperous Ireland shall not 
compete with her in the commercial markets of the world. 
It is also an incontrovertible fact that Ireland was one of the 
richest countries in the world prior to her complete subjuga- 
tion by the English in the sixteenth century, and that the 
introduction of the poorhouse system coincided with the 
introduction of British law. 

The poor law system has been a potent instrument for 
demoralizing and pauperizing the people. From 1846 to 
1849 it was used as a machine for forcing the small farmers 
of Ireland into the poorhouse or into the emigrant ship by 
the imposition of a crushing poor rate. Since that period it 
has served to impoverish the country by spending public 
money on foreign goods and by subsidizing emigration. It 
has also served to debase the spirit of the people by stamping 
pauper on the brow of honest men and women whom circum- 
stances rendered temporarily dependent on the assistance of 
their fellow-citizens. 

In no other country in Europe, except Great Britain itself, 



28 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

does such a degrading system exist. In France, Germany, 
Italy, and elsewhere, the State recognizes the fact that periods 
occur when industrious members of the community become 
impoverished through circumstances for which they are not 
responsible, and it administers the necessary remedies without 
undermining the self-respect of the recipients. It does not 
strike them from the lists of citizens, or imprison them in a 
poorhouse, as England does, but fits them again to take a 
place in the industrial ranks. Nor do the poor law systems 
of the enlightened nations of Europe offer the poorhouse to 
and place a stigma on those who, after a life of honorable 
labor, are stricken by sickness or enfeebled by old age. They 
afford them, not as a charity but as a right, support in liberty. 
Under the British system alone, the poor are placed in the 
same class as criminals. 

According to the usual system prevailing in other countries 
of Europe, the poor are divided into three classes: those who 
can and will work, those who are willing to work but who are 
unable to do so, and those who can work and will not work. 
For the first class it finds work; for the second it provides 
sustenance, not as a charity but as a right; for the third class 
it provides the proper place, the prison. In Ireland the 
British poor law system provides the same remedy for all 
three classes. The position in Ireland is this: There are 159 
Unions and 8000 Poor Law Guardians, elected by the people. 
It is not the fault of these Guardians that the system is what 
it is, but they are at least at fault in so far as they do not 
seek to neutralize its intention. The Sinn Feiners told them 
that, when they voted the money of the Irish people to help 
on emigration and to purchase foreign goods, they voted to 
pauperize further their own country. "Is there any land save 
Ireland," asked the Sinn Feiners, "in which the Poor Law 
Guardians would dream of expending the poor rate on pur- 
chasing foreign cloth to attire those who have been im- 
poverished by lack of employment, and hire foreign tailors in 
foreign countries to make it up; or who would import from 
abroad the food on which to feed these people, when their 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 29 

own country produced abundance of cloth and food?" Never- 
theless, that which would be inconceivable in any other 
country was the fact in Ireland. Above all taxes, the poor 
tax in other coiuitries is directed to be expended within that 
country. In Ireland the Guardians in the majority of 
instances expended it abroad, and thus kept continually 
adding to the total of pauperism with which they had to 
contend. 

As one of the means of extracting good for Ireland from the 
poor law system, the Sinn Feiners suggested that the 159 
unions in Ireland, controlling the annual expenditure of 
$7,500,000, should in council draw up an official scale of union 
requirements, use uniform advertisements for goods of solely 
Irish material and manufacture, and print a scale of the 
various quantities necessary yearly for the collective unions. 
The action of the North Dublin Union in 1881 was pointed 
to as an illustration of what could be done. In that year 
the Board decided to reverse the English "as-good-and-as- 
cheap" policy, and to purchase only goods of Irish manu- 
facture, even though it had to pay an enhanced price. When 
it could not procure exactly what it required of Irish manu- 
facture, it procured Irish goods that served as a substitute. 
The result was, of course, that increased employment was 
provided in Dublin, and in the end the ratepayers gained to 
the extent of $4000 a year. 

The following illustration will afford an insight into the 
actual condition of affairs that existed at this time in regard 
to the operation of the poor law. Although nominally created 
in Ireland's interest, the Local Government Board has always 
regarded it as its primary duty to push the interests of the 
British manufacturers in Ireland. In 1905 it attempted to 
induce the Irish Boards of Guardians to accept tenders for 
the supply of drugs from an English ring of manufacturers, 
which was trying to smash the competition of the Irish 
druggists. In a letter addressed to the Boards of Guardians, 
the Cork Chemical and Drug Company put the issue clearly. 
It wrote: "It is a comparatively simple matter for English 



30 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

capitalists to crush out their Irish competitors, and we know 
that this has been too often the fate of Irishmen striving to 
promote the manufactures of the country; for, once the 
obstacles of competition are removed, it is easy enough for 
the foreigner to again advance prices, and thus obtain com- 
pensation for his preliminary losses. It is to this system we, 
as Irish manufacturers and large employers of labor, object, 
but we are always ready to meet the ordinary competition of 
business, so long as this is conducted on fair lines." Many of 
the Irish Boards of Guardians responded to this letter, but, 
unfortunately, the bulk of the unions fell into the net spread 
by the English ring, and in consequence a very large sum of 
Irish money made its way that year across the channel. 
Under the Sinn Fein pohcy a thing of this kind would be 
impossible. The action of the PubUc Boards would be 
a united one, and no possibility would be left, so far as they 
were concerned, for a syndicate of foreign capitaHsts to crush 
out the home manufacturer and the home trader. 

It was also pointed out by the Sinn Fein leaders that if 
the 159 Unions of Ireland should at any time decide to use no 
flour but Irish flour, twelve months from that time many of 
the idle mills of the country would be again in full work, and 
thousands of Irish people would be provided with employ- 
ment. Under a national government, said the Sinn Feiners, 
there would be no room for pauperism in Ireland, because 
under such a government those unable to work, through no 
fault of their own, would not be treated as paupers, and those 
able to work would be provided with plenty in reclaiming 
the four million acres lying waste throughout the country. 
It was emphasized that one-half the victims of the Irish poor 
law system were able-bodied men and women, and the ques- 
tion was asked if any foreign nation had ever been known to 
pay out millions of dollars to keep in soul-destroying idleness 
tens of thousands of its able-bodied citizens while one-fourth 
of its soil awaited reclamation. Yet that is exactly what was 
being done in Ireland, where twenty-four per cent of the soil 
awaited the plow or the tree. The central plain of Ireland 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 3i 

awaited only afforestation to raise the mean temperature of 
the island four degrees, and thus render the soil doubly 
fruitful; but the Irish people were taxed, not to carry out so 
noble a work, but to perpetuate pauperism. The Sinn Feiners 
pointed out that it lay within the powers of the County 
Councils to devote at least a portion of the local taxation of 
the country to the purposes of this reclamation, and united 
action on the part of the Irish County Councils and Poor Law 
Unions could divert a portion of the poor law taxation to 
reproductive labor. 

In this same connection another question arose, which was 
also taken very fully into consideration by the framers of the 
Sinn Fein policy. The Poor Law Boards of Ireland employed 
about 4000 officials, while the Urban Councils and County 
Councils employed at least 2000 more. Here, said the Sinn 
Feiners, we have the foundation for a National Civil Service. 
Of this army of officials, paid by the ratepayers, the appoint- 
ment of seventy-five per cent was in the hands of men elected 
as Nationalists. As is the case in other countries, their 
appointment was determined more by the amount of personal 
influence they were able to wield with the members of the 
Board, under which they sought appointment, than by any 
other consideration. The question of efficiency was often a 
secondary matter. Such a state of affairs evidently tended 
both to the impairment of efficient local administration and to 
a lowering of the moral standard in the conduct of public 
bodies. Aware that the public bodies would scarcely tolerate 
the loss of their "patronage," the Sinn Feiners did not seek 
to deprive them of it. What they proposed was, that the 
patronage should be exercised thenceforth, not in the interest 
of the individual, but in the interest of the nation. They 
said that thousands of young men in Ireland had joined the 
British Civil Service, and thus assisted in the running of 
the British Empire. In principle this was wrong, but, under 
the then circumstances of the country, it was not expedient to 
place the same ban on the British Civil Service as on the 
British armed forces. The Irishman who joined the British 



32 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

army, the British navy, the "Royal Irish" Constabulary, 
necessarily became from that moment the enemy of his 
country, for he had taken up arms against Ireland. The 
position of the Irishman who had joined the British Civil 
Service was a passive and not an active one. He was not 
employed in keeping his own country down, but he was 
employed to an extent in keeping a hostile country up. It 
was objectionable and regrettable; but, while the Sinn 
Feiners would continue to deprecate Irishmen entering the 
British Civil Service, they would distinguish between the 
armed oppressor and the passive instrument of an alien 
administration. 

Some of the cleverest and ablest men in the British Civil 
Service were Irishmen, and the Sinn Feiners argued that, if 
they deprived England of their services and secured them for 
Ireland, they would be dealing a double blow against the 
foreign rule of their country. In the suggested consular serv- 
ice, for instance, the abilities of many Irishmen then in the 
higher grades of the British Civil Service would find adequate 
and congenial employment, while for the hosts of young 
Irishmen who filled the secondary posts in the Civil Service 
a National Civil Service under the local governing bodies of 
Ireland would provide scope. For the haphazard method 
of selecting the local oflScials in Ireland, the Sinn Feiners sug- 
gested the substitution of an ordered one. They proposed 
that a National Assembly should arrange and classify the 
positions of officials employed by all the public bodies in 
Ireland in three grades, and applications for a position would 
be entertained only from those who had successfully passed 
a qualifying examination. In the lowest grade candidates 
would be required to pass an examination showing an ele- 
mentary acquaintance with the Irish language, a knowledge 
q of Irish history, and an acqaintance with Ireland's resources. 
s| In the second grade, the candidate would be required to show 
j himself proficient in Irish history, in the Irish language as a 
j written tongue, and in the knowledge of Ireland's resources 
and possibihties, political and commercial. For the highest 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 33 

grade the candidate should not only possess a full knowledge 
of Irish history, but full acquaintance with her early laws and 
institutions; he should be proficient in Irish both as a written 
and a spoken language; he should know Irish literature and 
understand Irish art; he should be thoroughly acquainted 
with Ireland, agriculturally, industrially, commercially, and 
topographically; he should know what Ireland had achieved, 
and be able to show what she could achieve. In a word, he 
should be what an educated American, an educated French- 
man, an educated German is — a man who thoroughly knows 
his own country. 

Such a National Civil Service of Ireland would demand no 
more than the National Civil Service of any country on the 
continent of Europe — that its members must know their 
own country. Institute a National Civil Service in Ireland, 
they said, and the English education system of the country, 
designed to suppress in the breasts of its people the impulse 
of patriotism, would be revolutionized. If it was impossible 
for those ignorant of Ireland to gain a position in an ofl&cial 
capacity in Ireland, the schools would have to teach their 
pupils Irish history, the Irish language, and Irish possibilities. 
A National Civil Service in Ireland would prove a bulwark 
to the nation, would save for Ireland thousands of men who 
had unwillingly left it, and would necessarily give rise to the 
most Irish-educated generation Ireland had known for cen- 
turies. It would mean a truly educated Ireland, and an 
educated Ireland would be the harbinger of a free Ireland. 



CHAPTER VI 
Sestn Fein and the Law Courts and Army 

NOT less important to the nation, in the estimation 
of the Sinn Fein leaders, than those matters which 
have already been discussed, were national courts of 
law. Hungary understood this, and established arbitration 
courts which superseded the courts which Austria sought to 
impose on her. Before O'Connell balked at the proposal to 
erect a de facto Irish Parliament in Dublin, Ireland had estab- 
lished such courts. The prestige, the dignity, and the strength 
such a national legal system would confer upon a movement 
for national independence is obvious; but the Sinn Feiners 
argued that, in addition, it would deprive the corrupt bar in 
Ireland of much of its incentive to corruption, save the 
pockets of the Irish people, and materially help in bringing 
about that spirit of brotherhood, of national oneness in Ire- 
land, which all who loved their country desired to see. 

The decision of an arbitration court is binding, not only in 
morals but in law, on those who appeal to it. The Sinn 
Feiners said to the people what The Nation had said to 
them in 1843: "You have it in your power to resume popular 
courts and fix laws, and it is your duty to do so. It is the 
duty of every Irishman to himself, to his family, to his neigh- 
bors, and his bounden duty to his country to carry every 
legal dispute to the arbitrators, and to obey their decision. 
If you resort in any of your own disputes to any but your 
own judges, you injure yourself and commit treason to your 
country." Eighty per cent of the cases heard in the civil 
courts of Ireland, involving the expenditure of an enormous 
sum of money which served to keep up a corrupt judicial sys- 
tem, could be equally as legally decided in voluntary arbi- 
tration courts at practically no expense at all. 



THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 85 

The proposal made by the Sinn Feiners was in the following 
terms: That the Irish National Assembly should appoint 
those of its members who by virtue of their position were 
eligible to act as Justices of the Peace, but who declined to 
act as such under British law, to act as judges in the National 
Arbitration Courts, together with such men of character 
throughout the country, and such Irish barristers who had 
not "devoted their time to hawking their souls for sale in the 
Four Courts," as it might be necessary to add as assessors or 
judges. No barristers or lawyers should be permitted to 
practice in the National Arbitration Courts without the sanc- 
tion of the Assembly, and without renouncing their practice in 
foreign ones; and the Assembly should retain the same power 
over the iVrbitration Judges that the British Parliament 
retained over the British Judiciary. 

In this way, said the Sinn Feiners, Ireland would be able 
to wrest the judicial system, then used to her detriment, from 
the hands of the foreigner and use it to her own advancement. 
The course was legal and feasible; its advantages were great 
and obvious. Papineau took it to Canada, and Deak fol- 
lowed it in Hungary in the nineteenth century. Ireland 
could as easily follow it in the twentieth. Its advocates 
pointed to the fact that, a short while before, Russia was an 
autocracy that seemed as fixed and immovable as the north 
star, but was reduced to impotency by a strike. It was not 
a part of the Sinn Fein policy to reduce England to impotence 
by a cessation of labor, but it was a serious part of that policy 
to reduce her strength by strikes of another kind — strikes 
against using her goods, for instance, and against filling the 
ranks of her armed forces. 

In this latter direction the anti-enlisting movement was 
undoubtedly one of the strong features of the Sinn Fein policy. 
It struck home at a vital point of Imperialism; it presented 
to the British Government something that was real and tan- 
gible opposition, and yet was difficult to prevent. It was 
always a part of the policy of the English Government to use 
every possible means to induce Irishmen to join its army and 



36 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

navy. Irish marching airs were favorite ones in the British 
army, and English writers never tired of telHng the Irish 
people what fine fighters they were, while in the same breath 
reflecting satirically on the idea of such a quarrelsome people 
conducting their domestic affairs for themselves. They told 
the Irishmen — but, of course, not in so many words — that 
they were fine examples of healthy animals, with abundance 
of muscle and a minimum of brains — savage fighters with 
just the requisite amount of intelligence to direct a bayonet 
thrust or to aim a gun. 

At the time when the industries of Ireland were declining 
under unjust laws that were penalizing them out of existence, 
many young men took "the king's shilling" and became 
humble servants of Her or His Britannic Majesty. That 
industrial conditions were almost entirely responsible for their 
enlisting is known to everyone acquainted with Irish life. 
On account of the lack of employment, they had to go to the 
poorhouse, emigrate to America, or join the army. Many 
were unable to pay for the passage to America, and for them 
the choice was still more limited. It is, therefore, not sur- 
prising that many an Irishman succumbed to the blandish- 
ments of the gaily attired recruiting sergeant, put on the 
red uniform, and was taught to forget that he had ever had 
a country. 

The reader who knows the part the redcoat has played in 
the history of Ireland will have no difficulty in understanding 
why the Irish people hate the British uniform. From the 
raids of Strongbow and the massacres of Cromwell to the 
military executions of 1916, the uniform of England has ever 
spelled bloodshed and sorrow in Ireland — not to mention 
worse and sometimes more serious things. It is not a state- 
ment actuated by malice or ill-feeling, but a plain historical 
fact, that the conduct of British soldiers in Ireland has 
scarcely been equaled, and certainly not surpassed, by the 
atrocities committed upon the Armenians by the Turks or 
upon the Jews by the Russians. Ireland has had its own 
Black Hole of Calcutta; has seen years upon years of wanton 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 37 

bloodshed and nameless outrage. Were it necessary to pro- 
duce proof, a chapter of horrors could be written that would 
surpass anything of a similar kind the world has ever read. 
England's own historians cannot quite conceal this fact, and 
those who wish to prove the matter have ample opportunity 
to do so elsewhere. 

There were, therefore, abundant reasons why the Sinn 
Feiners stood firm against the enlistment of Irishmen in the 
British army. They said that, sentiment apart, it was not 
a national policy for Irishmen to join the armed forces of a 
country that was oppressing their own land. At the time of 
the formulation of the Sinn Fein policy in 1905, the anti- 
enlisting movement had already accomplished a great deal, 
but there was a great deal still to be done. There were then 
fewer Irishmen in the British army than at any other period 
during the previous hundred years, but there were still pro- 
portionately far more Irishmen than there were Englishmen 
or Scotsmen. Thirty years previously, out of every 1000 
men in the British army, 248 (or just one-fourth) were Irish. 
In 1905, out of every 1000 men in that army, 115 were Irish; 
but in proportion to its population Ireland supplied many 
more fighting men to England than England supplied to her- 
self. Out of every 10,000 men between 15 and 40 years of 
age in England, 276 were soldiers (a large number being of 
Irish or Scottish parentage or descent); out of every 10,000 
men between 15 and 40 years of age in Scotland 248 were 
soldiers; and out of every 10,000 men between 15 and 40 
in Ireland 354 were soldiers. 

This striking difference bears a significance peculiarly its own 
when the figures are examined. Yet it is a fact that the Eng- 
lish took particular pride in their army; pointed to the 
deeds that the "English" army had accomplished, while the 
actual truth then, as to-day, was that among all the peoples 
on the face of the globe who least relish fighting the English 
indubitably hold the first place. In the British Parliament, 
from the very outbreak of the war, the difficulty in inducing 
the English people to take up arms in defense of their own 



38 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

country was one of the greatest assets of the Teutonic allies. 
When it comes to war, the average Englishman would much 
rather play the part of spectator and critic. If then the 
Englishman was so reluctant to fight for his country and 
Empire, the attempt to force Irishmen into the war was 
nothing less than an impertinence. 

The Sinn Feiners failed to see why the Irish people should 
be fighting for England, and the English people getting the 
credit and the profit in any case. This phase of the matter 
caused so much discussion that during the Boer war, when 
the Irish and Scottish regiments were being slaughtered 
along the Modder River and in front of Kimberley, the 
outcry in Ireland and the questions as to what the English 
were doing caused the Government to change its tactics 
somewhat. As a special concession, Queen Victoria then 
graciously gave permission to the Irish soldiers to wear a 
sprig of their own national emblem on St. Patrick's Day, in 
recognition of the blood they had shed for the salvation of 
the Empire and to bring two independent Republics under 
the English rule, whose benevolence towards small nationali- 
ties they of all men had best reason to know. Up to that 
time the wearing of shamrock on March 17th was a crime for 
which an Irishman in the service of the Empire could be 
flogged. In spite of the gracious act of Queen Victoria, the 
anti-enlisting campaign gathered strength after the Boer war 
and right up to the time of the rebellion. 

There was one other kind of strike that the Sinn Feiners 
advocated, and that a very effective one — a strike against 
taxes. The people of Hungary struck against taxes, and 
compelled Austria to collect them at the point of the bayonet. 
They suffered, but they remained true to their principles, 
and in the end they won. The Sinn Feiners pointed out 
that Ireland had a means of striking against British taxes 
which would not call for the exercise of a hundredth part 
of the spirit of self-sacrifice displayed by Hungary. The gross 
taxation of Ireland for British purposes represented over 
$55,000,000 per annum. Of this the only considerable direct 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 39 

tax was the income tax, which represented about $5,000,000, 
or one-eleventh of the whole. For obvious reasons, said the 
Sinn Feiners, a strike against the income tax could not be 
made general, and, even if it were, could not materially affect 
England, since, after she had paid all the charges for the 
maintenance of her government in Ireland, she still had 
$15,000,000 profit. It was evident that, if the Sinn Feiners 
were to hit England effectively by a strike against taxation, 
they must reduce England's revenue from Ireland to a point 
below her expenditure on it. 

Out of the $55,000,000 which England annually took from 
Ireland, more than one-half was derived from the sale of 
alcoholic drinks, and especially whisky. However, out of 
every seven cents paid in Ireland for a glass of whisky, the 
British Government received three cents. Here, then, said the 
Sinn Feiners, without anything approaching the sacrifices 
that other countries had made, Ireland had a means ready at 
hand for an effective strike against taxes. The same means 
had been used by the United Irishmen a hundred years before, 
and it was the duty of the people to use them again. By the 
simple process of reducing by one-half their expenditure on 
drink — if the man who drank two glasses of whisky each 
day would drink only one, and the man who drank two 
bottles of beer a day would content himself with one — Ire- 
land would be able to decrease the British revenue from 
Ireland by so many millions per annum that practically the 
whole of the annual profit that England was making out of 
the government of Ireland would disappear. 

"If there be any man calling himself an Irish Nationalist," 
said the Sinn Feiners, "who is not prepared to sacrifice a 
glass of whisky or a bottle of beer for Ireland, then he calls 
himself by a name to which he is not entitled." 



CHAPTER VII 

Sinn Fein and Irish Finance 

THE fiscal system of Ireland is the complement of the 
land system, and was designed and conducted solely 
in the interests of England. In England the Stock 
Exchange, although the most powerful of its buttresses, is 
uncontrolled by the British Government. In Ireland the 
position of affairs is different. English statesmen understood 
that an independent National Stock Exchange in Ireland was 
incompatible with English financial, if not with English politi- 
cal, interests. They therefore placed the Irish Stock Ex- 
change directly under Government control. Does the reader 
know just what this means? 

A walk along Dame Street (the Wall Street of Dublin) 
reveals the legend, "Government Stockbroker," written on a 
dozen windows. There were ninety-three members of the 
Dublin Stock Exchange in 1905, and these ninety -three had 
to satisfy the British Lord Lieutenant as to their loyalty to 
that Government and their devotion to British interests, 
before they were admitted to the Exchange. The Sinn 
Feiners contended that the Stock Exchange in Ireland had 
had no near rival, save the banks, in ruining Irish industries in 
the interests of British ones, and in transferring to British 
pockets millions of Irish money. In every country, with the 
exception of Ireland, the primary function of the Stock 
Exchange is to create a market for local stocks, particularly 
the shares in manufacturing industries. In Ireland the 
primary function of the Stock Exchange was the reverse. 
Any limited liability company started in Ireland to create 
and develop industries or develop natural resources was 
unable to secure a quotation on the Stock Exchange, unless 
backed by unusual and powerful influences. 



THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 41 

One of the results of this condition was to render the small 
investor unwilling to invest his money in Irish industrial 
enterprises. To illustrate the reason, let us assume that the 
townspeople of Trim, anxious to promote the prosperity of 
their town, anxious to benefit themselves, and anxious to 
advance the general prosperity of the country, have decided 
to start a woolen factory in their midst. A company is 
formed with a capital of $25,000 or $50,000. The working- 
man subscribes for one $5 share, and the well-to-do store- 
keeper for one hundred shares. The company may go on 
prosperously, but a few months hence the workingman may be 
in need of money and be anxious to dispose of his share, or 
the storekeeper may find it imperative to turn his $500 stock 
into cash. If the company possessed a Stock Exchange quo- 
tation, the storekeeper would have merely to telegraph to a 
stockbroker in Dublin to sell, and receive in a few hours his 
cash for the shares at the price current. But, if the com- 
pany happened to be a small Irish industrial company, its 
stock would not be listed on the Stock Exchange, and the 
storekeeper could not turn his stock into cash unless by 
private treaty. His need for the money might be urgent; 
his $500 stock might be worth $750; but the market was 
closed against him by the Government stockbroker, and his 
only resource was to sell by private negotiation, involving 
delay and almost invariably loss. The small Irish capitalist, 
therefore, refused to invest in companies for the development 
of Irish industries, but invested in the shares of gold mines 
eight thousand miles away, which he never saw and never 
would see. He might know, and generally did know, that 
the local industry was a sound one; he might suspect that 
the Calmazu gold mine was anything but sound; but he 
knew that, if he bought Trim Woolens and needed the money 
in six months' time, he could not sell his stock in the open 
market, whereas, if he bought Calmazus, the Government 
stockbroker would turn them into cash for him at any 
moment. 

Shut out from the natural investment of his money, the 



42 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

small Irish capitalist had been transformed by the Govern- 
ment stockbrokers into a pm-e speculator, or in other words 
a gambler in shares; and, as such, he had been fleeced in 
turn by every species of financial rascal that the other side 
of the Channel had been able to produce. "Chartereds," 
"Tyres," "Volemites," *'Fish Oil," and their kindred, had, 
within a period of twenty years transferred as many millions 
from the pockets of the small Irish capitalist to the pockets 
of John Bull as would have suflSced to set the idle mills of 
Ireland working and to provide a livelihood in their own coun- 
try for the tens of thousands who during that period streamed 
out of the Cove of Cork. But, as the Stock Exchange in 
Ireland would not, as the Stock Exchange in every other 
country did, make a market for local stocks, the small capital- 
ist was compelled to invest his capital outside Ireland — in 
ninety-nine per cent of cases in British undertakings, to the 
immense financial advantage of England and to the financial 
loss of Ireland. 

The Sinn Feiners held that, under the policy they advo- 
cated, the abolition of this system was a matter of compara- 
tive ease. If the Irish National Assembly, representing the 
public bodies of Ireland, demanded the creation of a National 
Stock Exchange, that exchange would immediately come 
into existence. The National Assembly had but to order 
the public bodies it represented to transact all their business 
in the buying and selling of stock through brokers who were 
prepared to constitute themselves into a National Exchange, 
and the desired result would necessarily follow. As the 
National Assembly would control the banking of some mil- 
lions per annum in Ireland, the banks would not dare to 
disobey its mandates, and would therefore be forced also to 
support the National Exchange. 

The existence of a National Stock Exchange would entirely 
alter the financial position of the country, and place the 
industrial revival on a basis too firm to be overturned. 
Ninety or nine hundred British Government stockbrokers 
could not withstand for a year a National Exchange backed 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 43 

by the public bodies of Ireland and performing the primary 
function of a Stock Exchange — the commercial development 
of the country for the benefit of its inhabitants and their 
children. 

Turning to the other side of the financial system, the pro- 
pounders of the Sinn Fein policy proceeded to show how the 
banking methods in Ireland also hindered the development of 
Irish resources and the Irish industrial revival. They pro- 
duced figures showing that the Irish people had $250,000,000 
in the Irish banks; that, having invested the bulk of this 
big sum in British stocks at 2| per cent or less, the Irish 
banks had no money to put into Irish industrial enterprises, 
but had millions to put into a war against the Boers. During 
the Boer war the Bank of Ireland lent, free of interest, to 
the British Government the money of its Irish depositors to 
assist in the extirpation of the Boer Republics, against which 
the people of Ireland had no grudge and with whose fight for 
freedom against a foreign and stronger power the Irish people 
were in entire sympathy. 

At the outbreak of the same war the banks in Ireland 
bought British Consols at 95, and for every $100 stock so 
purchased the Irish banks had lost $7 in 1905, British Con- 
sols having during the interval fallen to 88. While that loss 
had to be borne by their stockholders nominally, the ultimate 
loss fell on the country in general, which could not but be 
affected adversely in various ways by the impairment of 
national credit. To the banks in Ireland national credit 
connotes of course, not Irish credit, but English. Thus, said 
the Sinn Feiners, the banks of Ireland were willing to lend 
the money of the Irish people for British purposes, but not 
for the development of Ireland. The Sinn Feiners pointed 
to the example of Louis Kossuth, who, seventy-four years 
previously, when he had successfully inaugurated the National 
industrial movement in Hungary, found himself face to face 
with a similar state of affairs. The banks of Hungary were 
under the thumb of the government in Vienna, and the gold 
of Hungary was drawn thither to increase the gold reserve 



44 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

of the Austrian treasury. The banks in Hungary were then 
acting in precisely the same manner as those in Ireland still 
did. They lent the money of the Hungarian people to the 
Austrian Government at a low rate of interest, but they 
refused to lend money for the internal development of Hun- 
gary. Kossuth did not argue with the banks. He secured 
the support of the local councils and the aid also of patriotic 
men of wealth, and founded the National Bank of Hungary. 
This bank lent its funds, not to the Austrian Government, but 
to the Hungarian nation. With it Kossuth burst up the fiscal 
conspiracy which oppressed his people, and doubled the wealth 
of Hungary in five years. 

What was possible to Louis Kossuth in Hungary in 1842, 
said the Sinn Feiners, was possible in Ireland in 1905. If the 
public bodies in Ireland unitedly demanded that the existing 
banks should play the part of National banks, should cease 
to lend money for the benefit of England, and should begin 
to lend it for the benefit of Ireland, there was little doubt 
indeed but that they would refuse. But, when they refused, 
all the Irish public bodies would have to do would be to 
withdraw their accounts, and a National Bank would come 
into being. This National Bank, with the united support of 
the Irish public bodies, would be the premier bank in wealth 
and influence. With the establishment of a National Stock 
Exchange and a National Bank, the financial system that 
had withdrawn from the service of the Irish nation $250,- 
000,000 and turned it over to the British Treasury, would 
come to an end, and the shriveled veins of Irish commerce 
would be refilled with the blood of life. 

That the scheme was undoubtedly practicable was shown 
by the widespread attention that it attracted, especially 
among the politicians in England. Numerous articles were 
printed in the English magazines and newspapers relative 
to the scheme, and not one of them could see anything com- 
mendable in it. This unanimity of opinion among those who 
had most reason to fear it deeply impressed the Irish people 
and encouraged the Sinn Feiners. That the latter made no 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 45 

mistake when they declared that the Irish banks would 
refuse to take part in the plan, was soon amply demonstrated. 
On the other hand, many men of position, wealth, and influ- 
ence had suflScient patriotic spirit to pledge themselves to 
the support of the plan, and among these there was none 
more enthusiastic than The O'Rahilly, whose name was later 
destined to become historic in an enterprise more thrilling 
and appealing to the imagination than the establishment of 
an Irish National Bank. Why the plan was not carried out 
has already been explained in part in a previous chapter, 
and will be touched on more fully later. It is sufficient to 
state here that there was every reason to believe that it could 
have been carried out, and that it would have justified every 
claim that was made for it. 

Reference has been made to the withdrawal of gold from 
Ireland. It is not without interest to know that, at the time 
when there was nominally $250,000,000 in the banks of Ire- 
land, there was not $20,000,000 in gold in the whole of 
Ireland. The Irish gold deposited in the Irish banks was 
sent to London, and there exchanged for paper. Nor is this 
the most significant fact of the situation. When the Irish- 
man presented a Bank of Ireland or any other Irish note as 
payment in a British Government office in London, he was 
promptly informed that Irish paper money could not be 
accepted. The late Edmund Dwyer Gray very sensibly, 
therefore, refused to accept payment in paper money from 
the banks in Ireland; and, said the Sinn Feiners, when the 
people individually and the public bodies in Ireland acted 
with equal common sense, Ireland would retain her gold 
within her own shores and permit England to sell paper for 
gold to some other country. 



CHAPTER VIII 

The Council of Three Hundred 

IN the preceding chapters mention has frequently been 
made of the Irish National Assembly, and it is now time 
to consider what this meant in the policy of the Sinn 
Feiners. 

The General Council of the County Councils of Ireland 
afforded the nucleus of the national authority under the 
leadership of which the Sinn Feiners hoped to achieve the 
results outlined in their policy. They proposed the formation 
of a Council of Three Hundred, composed of the members of 
the General Council of the County Councils, and representa- 
tives of the Urban Councils, Rural Councils, Poor Law 
Boards, and Harbor Boards of the country. This Council was 
to sit in Dublin and form a de facto Irish Parliament. Sitting 
and voting with this body, which was to assemble in Dublin 
in the spring and autumn, would be the persons elected for 
Irish constituencies who declined to confer on purely Irish 
affairs with foreigners in a foreign city. This latter reference 
was, of course, to the Irish members of the British Parliament, 
who discussed Irish interests in the British House of Com- 
mons with a overwhelming majority of Englishmen, Scotsmen, 
and Welshmen. 

On its gathering in Dublin this National Assembly was to 
appoint special committees to consider and report to the 
general body on all subjects pertaining to the country. The 
Council would then deliberate on the reports of these com- 
mittees, and formulate workable schemes, to which, when 
formulated, it would be the duty of all local Councils and 
other bodies to give legal effect as far as their powers per- 
mitted, and, where these legal powers fell short, to give it the 
moral force of law by instructing and inducing those whom 



THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 47 

they represented to honor and obey the recommendations of 
the Council of Three Hundred individually and collectively. 
Over all the departments of Irish national life to which 
reference has been made, this Council of Three Hundred was 
to be the directing authority. The Irish local councils were 
in a position to levy two cents in the five dollars for technical 
instruction, and then demand and receive half as much again 
from the Department of Agriculture. The valuation of Ire- 
land, that is, the rateable valuation, was roughly $60,000,000, 
which would yield an annual grant for technical instruc- 
tion of $240,000, plus $120,000 from the Department. The 
Councils also had the power to raise another two cents in 
the five dollars for libraries, thus yielding another $240,000. 
Here, then, was a total annual revenue of $600,000, which 
could be allocated, inside the limits prescribed by the Act, 
by direction of the Council of Three Hundred, to objects 
intended to serve and strengthen the country, and aid in 
bringing about the triumph of its policy. Under the heading 
of technical instruction, it would be possible to allocate 
money to train the people in crafts useful to the country, and 
to subsidize and offer bounties to new or struggling industries, 
this latter purpose being of the utmost importance in the 
view of the Sinn Feiners. Under the heading of libraries, it was 
possible to allocate money to the formation and foundation 
of National Libraries throughout the country, to the instruc- 
tion of adults in national history and national subjects, to 
the establishment of local museums and gymnasiums, in 
which they could be trained physically and taught discipline. 
For example, when the Council of Three Hundred met in 
Dublin, it might be proposed that a certain fixed sum be 
devoted in that year in every part of Ireland to the physical 
training of the people and their instruction in Irish history; 
whereupon every County Council in Ireland would levy the 
rate and allocate the portion as directed. Thus, uniformity 
of action and work would be attained, and, without in one 
iota infringing the British law, the recommendation — for 
these resolutions or acts of the Council would go forth as 



48 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

recommendations — would be given the force and status of 
law. 

At the time that these proposals were placed before the 
people in 1905, the Irish people were threatened with the 
withdrawal of the grant for technical instruction, which was 
paid through the Department of Agriculture. The British 
Treasury wanted more money for English purposes. One 
*' Irish" Board of British nominees, the "National" Board of 
Education, had surrendered without protest to the British 
Treasury a portion of the monies which the Irish people were 
compelled to pay for their de-Irishing education. Another 
Castle Board was then contemplating the surrender of the 
money that had been taken from Irish taxation for technical 
instruction. The Sinn Feiners brought to light the fact that 
it was within the power of the County Councils to control the 
Department of Agriculture, whose jobbery and incompetence 
were fast becoming a public scandal, and which was at that 
time attempting to plunder the country for the benefit of 
the British Exchequer. 

The Agricultural Board, which controlled the expenditure 
of the funds intended for promoting agriculture, fishery, and 
kindred industries, was composed of twelve persons, the elec- 
tion of two-thirds of whom was in the hands of the County 
Councils. The Board of Technical Instruction, which con- 
trolled the expenditure of the money applied under the 
heading of technical instruction, was composed of twenty-one 
persons, the election of fifteen of whom was in the hands of 
the County and Borough Councils. Owing to the supineness 
of the County Councils, which had not yet learned their 
newly given power, the Department of Agriculture had been 
permitted for years to neglect carrying out its duties. The 
time had come, said the Sinn Feiners, to use it with all the 
vigor at their command. The proposal was, therefore, put 
forward to extend the control of the Council of Three Hun- 
dred over the Department of Agriculture. It was proposed to 
use the $32,500,000, which was annually dealt with by the 
Irish elective bodies, solely with a view to Ireland's interests. 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 49 

The Sinn Fein policy was thus to establish in Ireland's 
capital a National Assembly, endowed with the moral author- 
ity of the Irish people. It was essential to the successful 
working out of this policy that its supporters in Ireland should 
secure their votes and cast them for men in Rural, Urban, 
and County Councils, who would apply that policy to their 
local affairs as well as in the national field. In Dublin and 
other cities the British Local Government Board, for instance, 
prevented the Dublin Corporation from providing those facil- 
ities for education and recreation which the municipalities in 
other countries were free to provide, by declining to sanction 
a rate, if struck for such purposes; but in many of the other 
cities of Ireland there was a borough fund which, after a pay- 
ment of certain fixed charges, was freely at the disposal of the 
people. On investigation, what did the Sinn Feiners find the 
state of these funds to be? The Dublin Borough Fund, which 
annually amounted to about $115,000, was found to be over- 
drawn, because, while the people of Dublin were keeping their 
eyes fixed steadily on London, burdens were thrown on the 
fund which it should never have borne. Properly handled, 
this fund would have prevented much of the distress that 
prevailed in the poorer parts of the city each recurring winter, 
would have provided for the people means of rational enjoy- 
ment, and would in many other ways have improved living 
conditions in the capital. The Irish people, said the Sinn 
Feiners, should bring the policy of Sinn Fein into every depart- 
ment of their social lives, and the citizens of Dublin should 
make a start by seeing to it that the Borough Fund was 
again made available for the purposes for which it was 
intended. 

As a statement of the Sinn Fein policy in a nutshell, the 
following quotation from the speech delivered by Mr. Arthur 
GriflBth at the Rotunda in 1905 will not be inappropriate: 

I shall not dwell on local policy, which must largely be determined 
by local circumstances, further than to say that I have seen the war 
vessels of Ireland's enemy welcomed to Dublin and entertained by 
the head of the municipality, whilst I have seen the war vessels of 



50 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

friendly nations, Argentina and Holland, enter our harbors unwel- 
comed and unnoticed by the municipality of Dublin. I pass from the 
stain upon our soul and the slur upon our character, and ask whether 
such a proceeding is calculated to advance the commercial interests 
of Ireland in Argentina and Holland. Whilst I behold British 
municipahties, in order to further the commercial interests of Great 
Britain, inviting the German and French municipalities to visit their 
cities, I can find no instance of an Irish municipal body exhibiting 
similar business instinct. The policy of Sinn Fein proposes to change 
all this, to bring Ireland out of the corner and make her assert her 
existence in the world. The whole basis of this policy is national 
self-reliance. No law and no series of laws can make a nation 
out of a people who distrust themselves. If we believe in ourselves, 
if each individual believes in himself, we shall carry this policy to 
victory against all the forces that may be arrayed against it. If 
we realize the duties and responsibilities of the citizen and dis- 
charge them, we shall win. It is the duty of a free citizen to live 
so that his country may be the better for his existence. Let each 
Irishman do so much, and I have no fear for the ultimate triumph 
of our policy. I say ultimate, because no man can offer Ireland a 
speedy and comfortable road to freedom, and, before the goal is 
attained, many may have fallen and all will have suffered. Hun- 
gary, Finland, and Poland, all have trodden or tread the road we 
seek to bring Ireland along, but none repine for the travail they have 
undergone. We go to build up the nation from within, and we deny 
the right of any but our own countrymen to shape its course. This 
course is not England's, and we shall not justify our course to Eng- 
land. The craven policy that has rotted our nation has been the 
policy of justifying our existence in our enemy's eyes. Our mis- 
fortunes are manifold, but we are still men and women of a common 
family, and we owe no nation an apology for living in accordance 
with the laws of our being. In the British Liberal, as in the British 
Tory, we see our enemy, and in those who talk of ending British 
misgovernment we see the helots. It is not British misgovernment, 
but British government in Ireland, good or bad, we stand opposed 
to, and in that holy opposition we seek to band all our fellow- 
countrymen. For the Orangeman of the North, ceasing to be the 
blind instrument of his own as well as his fellow-countrymen's 
destruction, we have the greeting of brotherhood as for the National- 
ist of the South, long taught to measure himself by English standards 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 51 

and save the face of tyranny by sending Irishmen to sit impotently 
in a foreign legislature whilst it forges the instruments of its oppres- 
sion. Following the illustrious thinker of antiquity, I liken a nation 
to a ship's company, to whom different tasks are allotted, but all 
of whom are equally concerned in the safety of the vessel. And in a 
saying of this great predecessor, I find summed up the spirit of Sinn 
Fein: "It is the part of the citizen not to be anxious about living, 
but about living well." If we realize this conception of citizenship 
in Ireland, if we place our duty to our country before our personal 
interests, and live not each for himself but each for all, the might 
of England cannot prevent our ultimate victory. 

This, then, was the policy advocated by the Sinn Feiners. 
While it has been dealt with at some length in the preceeding 
pages, there is not a chapter that might not be expanded 
indefinitely. It was a policy that appealed strongly to the 
yomiger men and women of the country. It had in it the 
promise of success, and that it would have succeeded — in 
fact, that it did succeed in so far as it was applied — is 
certain. In the years between its promulgation and the re- 
bellion of 1916, the work done was widespread and important 
in its effect. At the same time it was done in a manner that 
did not attract a great deal of outside attention. But the fact 
that it was done, and that it bore the fruit it was expected 
to bear, has since amply been demonstrated. The spirit of 
the country was educated, and in later days, when one crisis 
after another came upon the country, the work of the Sinn 
Feiners was seen in the manner in which the people arose and 
demanded the rights that were theirs. 

Having thus shown exactly what the Sinn Fein policy was 
and still is (for the Sinn Fein movement is neither dead nor 
dying), it will not be without interest to examine what the 
Parliamentarians were disposed to accept as a "final settle- 
ment of the Irish demands." This will be much briefer, as 
its scope was much less comprehensive than the Sinn Fein 
Policy. 



CHAPTER IX 

The Home Rule Bill 

THE Third Home Rule Bill, regarding which much has 
been said in America and but little understood, was 
never accepted by the Irish people as a final settle- 
ment, but was looked on simply as the basis for that larger 
measure of freedom that they desired. In the opinion of the 
Sinn Feiners, it meant nothing more than a bare beginning, 
and was accepted merely as the foundation stone on which 
might once again be built that Irish nation which they 
desired to see. Some people are under the impression that 
the Third Home Rule Bill gave to Ireland practically complete 
power to govern herself. How far this was from being true, 
it is now our purpose to briefly indicate. 

In the first place, the power and authority of the British 
Parliament to legislate for Ireland remains unaffected and 
undiminished after the establishment of the Irish Parliament. 
At any time it would remain within the power of the British 
Parliament to impose a tax on Ireland without reference to 
the Irish Parliament. No Act of the British Parliament 
extending to Ireland, passed after the establishment of the 
Irish Parliament, could be altered or repealed by the Irish 
Parliament, even though the new Act should infringe on the 
powers delegated to the Irish Parliament. Furthermore, any 
Act passed by the Irish Parliament, in pursuance of the powers 
conferred upon it under Home Rule, could be declared void 
by the British Parliament, or altered by the British Parlia- 
ment in any manner that the latter saw fit. It would thus 
seem that the amount of power that Ireland would have 
under this Act has been reduced almost to a minimum. 

In addition to these provisions, it was provided that any 
law made by the Irish Parliament at any time, in pursuance 



THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 53 

of the powers delegated to it, could become automatically 
void when the British Parliament passed a general Act in 
which a different law was made. The only exception to this 
rule was in the case of Customs and Excise duties, which the 
Irish Parliament was given power to vary within very narrow 
and strictly defined limits. Apart from these powers of the 
British Government to annul or reverse the legislation of the 
Irish Parliament, the British Lord Lieutenant could be 
directed by the British Cabinet to postpone for an indefinite 
period giving assent to any Act passed in Dublin. Even 
though an Irish Act passed and received the Royal Assent, 
it could at any time be impugned by any person or corporation 
as invalid. The question whether an Act of the Irish Parlia- 
ment, signed in the name of the monarch, which had been for 
any term of years regarded as settled law, was not and never 
had been law, was then to be decided by the Judicial Com- 
mittee of the British Privy Council, sitting in London. This 
tribunal was to consist of not fewer than four British lawyers 
and only one Irish lawyer. 

The power of veto and interference thus retained by Eng- 
land bore no analogy to that nominally retained over the 
British Colonies. These Colonies control their own Customs. 
If England attempted to exercise a veto on their Acts, they 
would retort by increasing the Customs duties on British 
goods. Under the Home Rule Act, Ireland could impose no 
tariffs. In the event of the British Parliament exercising its 
powders to annul, alter, amend, suspend, or override Irish 
legislation, enacted in pursuance of the powers assigned under 
the Home Rule Act, Ireland was bereft of the powers of 
resistance possessed by Canada, Australia, and South Africa. 
She could do nothing but pass a resolution of protest. To 
say that, because England did not interfere with her Colonial 
Parliaments, she would not, therefore, interfere with that set 
up in Ireland, is to assume more than the facts seem to 
warrant. Her Colonies were thousands of miles away from 
her center of Government, and had the fiscal strength to 
oppose a veto. Ireland is but two hours' sea journey from 



54 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

her shores, and was physically and fiscally naked. It is also 
folly to think that, even though friendly relations came to 
exist between the two countries, the legislation of each would 
not at times conflict, since under the most amicable relations 
the interests of no two countries can always be identically 
the same. 

At the same time, even the Sinn Feiners admitted that, 
under Home Rule, some veto power held by England over 
Ireland (for example, on the question of raising armed forces) 
was inevitable. The extent and the nature of the veto was 
the matter for consideration. In his speech on the Home 
Rule Bill in 1893, John Redmond dwelt on the veto power as 
the most vital question in connection with Home Rule. It 
was obvious that, no matter how extensive the powers which 
a Home Rule measure purported to confer on Ireland, these 
powers would remain illusory so long as the British held an 
unrestricted veto. On the occasion mentioned, John Red- 
mond demanded that a guarantee be inserted in the Home 
Rule Bill that the British Parliament would not exercise its 
power of legislation for Ireland over the head of the Irish 
legislature in respect to the questions committed to its charge 
by the Home Rule Bill. Mr. Redmond pointed out that, so 
far from the presence of Irish members at Westminster 
affording protection against unfair use of the veto powers, 
their presence there would be an invitation to have it regarded 
as a Court of Appeal from the Irish legislature. "Men would 
go there for the purpose of wrecking the Irish constitution by 
initiating debates on every Irish question." Under such a 
veto power, he said, Ireland's position after Home Rule could 
be rendered worse than her position without Home Rule. 
He stated that Ireland could not tolerate the setting-up of 
the British Parliament as the Court of Appeal over the pro- 
ceedings of the Irish legislature, and he claimed that no veto 
should exist over the Irish Parliament within the limits of its 
charter save the constitutional veto of the Lord Lieutenant 
exercised on the advice of a responsible Irish Ministry. In 
this stand Mr. Redmond was supported by the whole of 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 55 

Ireland, the people recognizing that the position he had 
taken up was the only correct one. 

Nineteen years later the people were amazed when this 
obnoxious power was inserted in the Third Home Rule Bill, 
under which every person in Ireland might, within the law, 
dispute the legality of any Act of the Irish legislature. The 
Irish people admitted that everyone was entitled to dispute 
any Bill that was under consideration, but they held that, 
once it became the law of the land, such a power would lead 
to nothing but confusion and trouble. They took the same 
stand as Mr. Redmond had taken in 1893, but Mr. Redmond 
and his Party retreated from their position and agreed to the 
veto power as stated in the Act. On this matter he was 
opposed by the Sinn Feiners, who held that, so long as the 
Irish Parliament did not exceed the powers conferred on it, 
its legislation should not be subject to veto, suspense, altera- 
tion, or amendment by the British Parliament, save on the 
advice of the Irish Ministry; that the British Parliament 
should not at any time legislate for Ireland on any of the 
matters that had been specifically handed over to the Irish 
Parliament, and that no Bill of the Irish Parliament, which 
became an Act by Royal Assent, should have its validity 
questioned. 

Amongst the powers reserved from the Irish Parliament 
was the collection of taxes, and under no conditions was this 
to be placed in the hands of the Irish people. The Irish 
taxes would be collected by officials of the British Govern- 
ment, and the cash paid by them into the British Exchequer. 
This was also a reversal of the proposal of 1893. The revenue 
collected in Ireland having been paid into the British Ex- 
chequer, a Board of five persons would then decide how much 
should be paid out of the British Exchequer into the Irish 
Treasury. With the sum thus paid, the Irish Government 
would have to defray the expenses of all the departments and 
services under its control. It was the opinion of the Sinn 
Feiners that a government that was not able to collect its 
own taxes was a jest, and a very sorry one for the Irish 



56 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

people. The final part of the joke was that, should it ever 
be shown that the Irish Government had, for three successive 
years, a surplus income over expenditure, it would then be 
arranged that Ireland would pay a contribution to the British 
Exchequer. 

In addition to this, Ireland, under the Act, would be 
restricted from making laws respecting the Crown, peace and 
war, the army and navy, treason, alienage, naturalization; 
it was expressly forbidden to raise a territorial force, or, 
should any such force be raised, to exercise any control over 
it, and also forbidden to make treaties for the purposes of 
trade with any other countries, including the British Colonies, 
or to maintain a consular service. She was forbidden to 
make any legislation with respect to her trade outside her 
own shores. She was forbidden to make quarantine laws or 
navigation laws. She was forbidden to exercise any national 
control over her tidal waters and over her lighthouses, buoys, 
and beacons. She was forbidden to interfere with the Mer- 
chandise Marks and similar Acts, to mint her own money, 
or to change the standard of weights and measures. It was 
also provided that the Irish Parliament should not make its 
own qualifications or disqualifications for membership to its 
own body, whatever qualified a person to be a member of 
the British Parliament constituting the rule with regard to the 
Irish Parliament. Furthermore, whatever form of oath the 
British Parliament administered at any time to its members, 
would have also to be the form of oath administered to the 
members of the Irish legislative body. 

In addition to the foregoing, power was also reserved from 
the Irish Parliament over old-age pensions, national insurance, 
labor exchanges, post oflSce savings bank, trustee savings 
banks, friendly societies, public loans made in Ireland before 
the passing of the Act, and the Royal Irish Constabulary. 
Provision was made for the ultimate transfer of all of these, 
with the exception of public loans, at different periods after 
the establishment of the Irish Parliament. 

The Irish Parliament was to consist of a House of Commons 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 57 

and a Senate, with a total membership of 204. The Senators 
were to be Government nominees, and the Commoners to be 
elected on the existing Parliamentary franchise. An Irish 
Minister might be a member of either House, but could vote 
only in the House of which he was a member. 

The members of the House of Commons were to be elected 
for a term of not more than five years. The members of the 
Senate were to hold office for eight years from the time of 
their appointment, irrespective of changes of government or 
of general elections. One-fourth of the Senators would retire 
every second year, and be eligible for reappointment by the 
Government of the day. Peers were to be eligible for election 
to the Commons and for nomination to the Senate, but no 
dual membership was possible. In addition forty-two Irish 
members were to be elected to the British Parliament in 
Westminster, and in this case dual membership was possible, 
for they were to be eligible to sit in the Irish Parliament, 
either as elected members of the House of Commons or as 
nominated members of the Senate, while being at the same 
time members of the British House of Commons. It was 
permitted the Irish Parliament to admit women to vote for 
the election of members to the Irish House of Commons, but it 
had no power to admit women to vote for the election of 
Irish members to the British House of Commons. Only the 
British Parliament itself had the right to confer that power 
on the women of Ireland. 

These, in brief, are the proposals that were embodied in 
the Third Home Rule Bill, which later became known as the 
Home Rule Act. In addition to the restrictions that were 
made in the Act itself, other and still more obnoxious pro- 
visions were made in order to limit the power of the Irish 
Parliament. It does not require a very careful examination 
to discover the wide difference that exists between the Sinn 
Fein policy and the Home Rule Act. The one aimed at 
making Ireland a nation of self-reliant people, with their own 
trade laws and their own representation; the other merely 
meant that, within certain narrow limits, Ireland was to be 



58 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

permitted to manage one or two of the minor details of her 
national life, under the strict supervision of England. Both 
the Sinn Fein policy and the Home Rule Act, however, 
played their part in leading up to the events that culminated 
in the Rebellion of 1916, and they cannot, therefore, be 
ignored as unimportant factors in the situation. Without a 
knowledge of both, it would be impossible to comprehend at 
their true value the events which followed. 



CHAPTER X 

Ireland at Westminster 

THE events leading up to the introduction and passage 
of the Third Irish Home Rule Bill — or, as it was 
officially called, The Government of Ireland Bill — 
were full of significance for the Irish people, and were in no 
small measure responsible for the events that startled the 
world in 1916. Rebellions are not manufactured in a day or 
a year, and it is necessary to look back a little in order 
properly to comprehend the causes that give them birth. 
That in Ireland in 1916 is no exception to this rule. 

For forty-five years Ireland had pursued a policy that was 
the very negation of the Sinn Fein proposals, a policy of 
recognition of the right of a foreign assembly to make laws 
to bind the people of Ireland. This contrary policy consisted 
in sending 103 men from Ireland to make laws for Ireland in 
conjunction with 567 Englishmen and Scotsmen — a propor- 
tion of one Irishman to five-and-a-haK foreigners. It involved 
the abrogation of the Treaty of 1783, the admission of the 
validity of the Act of Union, and it extended the color of 
constitutionalism to every act of the British Government in 
Ireland, whether that act was in the interests of Ireland or 
not, and whether or not the Irish members voted for that act. 
It is a political truism that no country can be governed 
constitutionally against its will, and, while the people of 
Ireland, with the exception of a small portion of the Province 
of Ulster, were practically unanimously opposed to English 
Government in Ireland, they nevertheless admitted, by send- 
ing members to the British Parliament, that Ireland was a 
constitutionally governed country, and that the laws made in 
England for her — tax laws or coercion laws — were made by 
and with the authority of Ireland and with her consent. 



60 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

The association of the poUcy of Parliamentarianism with 
the Home Rule movement in Ireland was the result of acci- 
dent. The Home Rule movement was inspired by the success 
of Francis Deak in Hungary; and the decision of John Martin, 
after his election for Meath in 1870, to take his seat in the 
British House of Commons (instead of, as he originally 
intended, remaining at home in Ireland), was the chance which 
converted the Home Rule movement into one relying on 
action in the British Parliament for its success. Parliamenta- 
rianism, however, could not have continued to secure sup- 
port, had not the brilliantly obstructive tactics of Charles 
Stewart Parnell paralyzed the working of the British legislative 
machine. 

When the machine was rendered proof against obstruction, 
Parnell recognized that the sole remaining hope of achieving 
anything through Parliamentarianism consisted in securing 
the balance of power between the two British parties. He 
secured the balance of power, used it, and lost it again. The 
General Election of 1892 restored the balance of power to the 
Irish Parliamentary Party, but the party, divided within 
itseK, owing to the "Parnell Split," did not attempt to make 
any use of it. In 1906, one year after the introduction of the 
Sinn Fein policy and after the expiration of eleven years of 
British Tory Government, the British Liberal Party, whose 
return to power seemed certain, owing to the nonconformist 
opposition to the existing school system, was permitted 
formally to erase Home Rule from its programme, where it 
had been subscribed since 1886. Nevertheless, the Irish vote 
in Great Britain, which the leader of the Irish Parliamentary 
Party claimed controlled 140 seats, was directed to be cast 
for the Liberal candidates. The Liberals were returned with 
an overwhelming majority over all parties, and the Irish 
Parliamentary Party, by relinquishing all effort to secure the 
balance of power, voluntarily accepted a position incomparably 
weaker than that which it occupied after the General Elections 
of 1886, 1895, and 1900. As already said, the policy of 
obstruction had ceased to be effective, and had been definitely 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 61 

abandoned by Parnell. John Redmond formally inaugurated 
the policy of wheedling from the strong measures which 
Parnell would have wrung from the weak. 

Following this came revelations in Ireland that caused no 
little perturbation among the people, revealing, as they did, 
something in the nature of an intrigue to rob them of what 
they hoped would be the fruits of their long fight for legisla- 
tive independence. The details of these revelations were very 
carefully suppressed at the time, but the facts are now beyond 
dispute. That the British Liberal Party very deliberately 
made a deal to relieve themselves of their promises to the 
Irish people is certain; and that the Irish Parliamentary 
Party fell into the trap laid for it, if, in fact, it did not 
acquiesce in the arrangement, is also demonstrated. It is 
quite certain that the leaders of the Party were aware of 
what was going on, and that their oflBcial newspaper organ 
in Dublin had in its possession facts which it did not use, but 
instead presented to the Irish people a version of the situation 
which was diametrically opposed to the actual facts. 

The secret history of the intrigue begins in November, 
1905, almost to the day when the Sinn Fein policy was first 
announced to the Irish people. At that time Sir Henry 
Campbell-Bannerman was called on to form an administration 
composed of British Liberals. In that administration Sir 
Edward Grey refused to accept a place, unless the Prime 
Minister gave him assurance and guarantee that Home Rule 
would be erased from the Liberal programme. The Duke of 
Devonshire, the leader of the Liberal Unionist Free Traders, 
proffered his section of the Liberal Unionist vote on condition 
that Sir Edward Grey's terms were accepted. During the 
progress of the negotiations between the Duke of Devonshire 
and the Prime Minister, Mr. Arthur Griffith, who had come 
into possession of the facts, called the attention of the leaders 
of the Parliamentary Party to what was being done, but 
both these leaders and their press maintained a rigid silence. 
In December, 1905, the agreement was concluded, and Mr. 
John Morley, who had previously been named as Chancellor 



62 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

of the Exchequer, was compelled to stand down and permit 
Mr. Asquith, Sir Edward Grey*s colleague and nominee, to be 
appointed in his stead. On December 28, on the eve of the 
General Election, Arthur Griffith made a final appeal to the 
Party leaders, but was again ignored. 

A few days later the British Premier's private secretary 
announced at a public meeting of the Liberals, amid cheers: 
"Home Rule is dead!" And the British Prime Minister, 
addressing his constituents in Scotland, declared he would 
never vote for a separate or an independent Parliament for 
Ireland. On the day following this decision, the Irish Par- 
liamentary leaders issued a statement calling on the Irish 
voters in Great Britain to support the British Liberal candi- 
dates. In Ireland, the people generally, owing to the manipu- 
lation of the daily press, remained for a while ignorant of 
what had taken place. Within forty-eight hours after the 
public declaration of the Liberal leaders that Home Rule was 
dead, the chief organ of the Irish Parliamentary Party wrote: 
"The two great questions raised for decision at the General 
Election are Home Rule and Free Trade. Every member of 
the Liberal Government is in favor of Free Trade for England 
and Home Rule for Ireland.'* ^ In view of the public declara- 
tions of some of the Liberal leaders, this statement can 
scarcely be interpreted otherwise than as a deliberate attempt 
of the Irish Parliamentary Party to mislead the people. 

Another stage in the intrigue, and one in which the Irish 
Party was mainly concerned, was reached at the meeting of 
the Directory of the United Irish League in September, 1906. 
The United Irish League by this time had become one of the 
most efficient electoral machines ever seen in Europe, and one 
that was absolutely at the command of the Irish Party 
Leaders. Mr. John E. Redmond, who acted as Chairman, 
moved a resolution empowering the party to accept, on 
behalf of the Irish people, a lesser measure than Home Rule 
from the British Liberal Government. The proposal was 
strongly opposed by the bulk of those members present who 

^ Freeman's Journal, editorial article, January 2nd, 1906. 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 63 

were not members of the British Parliament, but this oppo- 
sition was almost wholly withdrawn when the Chairman 
threatened to resign if his resolution were not carried. The 
resolution undoing the work of Parnell was passed, and the 
way cleared for the Irish Councils Bill. This Bill, having 
been drafted, was submitted by the Government to the 
leaders of the Irish Parliamentary Party and accepted by 
them. On its being submitted to the Irish people, even the 
well-oiled machine was unable to conceal the indignation that 
greeted it. From every corner of the land it was rejected 
with indignation, and the storm of protest was such that the 
Liberal Government withdrew the Bill, and, for the time 
being, the matter was dropped. Mr. Redmond, seeing that 
the people were not to be fooled altogether, promised that 
another and a better Bill would soon be forthcoming. There- 
upon, the people prepared to possess their souls in patience 
for a while longer, and sat down for another period of 
waiting. 

During this time the leaders of the Sinn Fein movement 
were not idle. They not only spread broadcast the truth 
about the negotiations that had taken place, and which, they 
declared, had been carried through for the purpose of betray- 
ing the people, but they increased and strengthened their 
hold on the people with their own policy. The leaders of the 
Parliamentary Party became alarmed at the progress that 
the Sinn Feiners were making, and did all in their power to 
strangle the movement. Thus, there again occurred in Ireland 
one of those internal feuds that have been repeatedly the 
cause of the disruption of the country. In spite of every- 
thing, however, the Sinn Feiners continued to gather strength, 
and Sir Thomas Esmond and Mr. Charles Dolan, both 
members of the Irish Party in the British House of Commons, 
refused to join in the policy of making Ireland subserve the 
interests of the Liberal Party managers. While this was 
going on, the taxation of Ireland was further increased, and 
every month saw a greater number of young men and women 
leaving the shores of Ireland to settle in foreign countries. 



64 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

where they would have more opportunity of utilizing their 
natural talents. 

These three years, 1905, 1906, and 1907, may well be 
regarded as the beginning of the chapter that culminated in 
the execution of the leaders of the rebellion. The manner 
in which the Irish Parliamentary Party had been acting 
in concert with the Liberal Government, had engendered a 
distrust that became greater and greater as the days passed. 
Discontent became more and more pronounced, and the 
manner in which the taxation was going up, and the number 
of emigrants increasing, made the opposition to the Party 
the more bitter. It was openly stated that Mr. Redmond 
and his Party were merely a section of the British Liberal 
Party, and one event after another seemed to bear out this 
allegation. There were not w^anting many who stated in the 
public press that the Party had betrayed the country, and 
this naturally increased the ranks of those who, believing that 
there was no hope from the actions of the British Parliament, 
found themselves thrown back on methods less "constitu- 
tional" than those advocated by the Parliamentarians. 

The Irish Parliamentary Party supported the Liberal Gov- 
ernment in voting the increase of taxation. As the best 
possible explanation of what this meant to the country, 
already overburdened by British taxes, the following report 
from the Financial Relations Commission, signed by four 
Unionists and one Home Ruler, may be quoted. The Com- 
mission was appointed by the British Government to make 
inquiry into the alleged discrepancies that existed between 
taxation in Ireland and the cost of the government of that 
country. The report states: 

We believe that a large proportion of the so-called local expendi- 
ture is due to her [Ireland's] connection with Great Britain, and, if 
the latter country ceased to exist, we see no reason for supposing 
that the revenue for carrying on the government of Ireland need 
exceed that, for instance, required in Sweden, where the population 
is about the same, and where the annual expenditure for all purposes 
is less than the local expenditure in Ireland. 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 65 

The following table has been constructed from oflicial 
returns to show the free and better known smaller nations in 
Europe that were able to maintain themselves in prosperity 
with a lesser annual revenue each year than Ireland was 
forced to contribute annually to England for the privilege of 
being misgoverned: 

Country Population Taxation Per Head 

Greece 2,433,806 $5.64 

Roumania 5,936,690 5.76 

Switzerland 3,315,443 6.60 

Wurtemberg 2,169,486 6.84 

Norway 2,240,032 7.80 

Denmark 2,464,770 7.92 

Sweden 5,513,644 8.04 

Ireland 4,376,600 10.38 

And, while this scandalous overtaxing proceeded, the 
country was bleeding to death. Emigration, in the first 
eleven months of the same year (1907), reached the total of 
38,417 persons, as against 35,344 for the preceding twelve 
months. In the twenty- three months from the time that the 
British Liberal Party returned to power, nearly 75,000 per- 
sons, the great majority of them between 17 and 35 years of 
age, emigrated from Ireland. 

These are facts that cannot be ignored. That they were 
not ignored, and that the Parliamentary Party and the Liberal 
Party, whose support they were, were forced to take notice of 
them, was proven when, in 1911, the Third Home Rule Bill 
was introduced under circumstances unique in English history 
and with results that will forever remain engraven in the 
story of Ireland. 



CHAPTER XI 

The Parliament Act 

FROM the time when Gladstone took up the Irish 
question until the passage of the Parliament Act, 
the British House of Peers had been the one insur- 
mountable obstacle to the enactment of a measure of Irish 
legislative independence. It required no study of the situa- 
tion to know that at no time would the Upper House of the 
British Parliament willingly agree to the passage of a Home 
Rule Bill. There were three reasons for this attitude. In the 
first place, there was existent among the aristocracy in Britain 
a hatred for everything that was Irish, since Ireland was 
always challenging them to appear before the bar of human- 
ity and answer for their misdeeds; in the second place, Home 
Rule threatened their pocket-books, for it would mean a final 
and equitable settlement of the land question; in the third 
place, it was the policy of the Gilded Chamber to veto, as a 
matter of course, every piece of legislation that came from a 
Liberal Government, which, in English politics, espoused the 
cause of the masses against the classes. It may be well to 
deal with these matters a little more fully. 

The dislike of the British aristocracy for the people of Ire- 
land is easily understood. A large percentage of the members 
of the English nobility were landlords over Irish property. 
They had, therefore, as already said, every reason to believe 
that a measure of Irish freedom might very seriously inter- 
fere with their annual incomes. As it was, all they had to do 
was to remain at home in London or abroad on the Continent, 
while their agents in Ireland collected for them the rents from 
their Irish tenants. The Irish land ownership agitation, 
which aimed at returning the land to the people, was one 
that these absentee landlords viewed with a distaste amount- 



THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 67 

ing to horror. An Irish land reform would inevitably stir 
up discontent among the English tenants, who, always treated 
with a certain amount of humanity by their landlords, had 
not yet felt the real pinch of dual ownership as the Irish had. 
The nobility, therefore, had a vision of being forced eventu- 
ually to do something for their living if anything should hap- 
pen to reduce their rent-rolls, and they were besides firm 
believers in the inalienable rights of owners that had inherited 
landed property from marauding ancestors who had been 
given miles upon miles of fertile Irish land as a reward for 
their services in extirpating the Gael. Again, they had inher- 
ited, along with their Irish property, a natural abhorrence of 
all that savored of Ireland. Ireland was a thorn in their 
flesh, for it was very difficult to find a pretext for English 
barbarity there. The tradition that the Irish were a semi- 
civilized, wholly uneducated race of near-barbarians, who were 
permitted to exist merely as an act of grace on the part of 
their English conquerors, brought consolation to their souls. 
That these same Irish were the heirs of a civilization far older 
and far more advanced than their own; that Ireland was, as 
their own Dr. Johnson wrote, "the quiet habitation of sanc- 
tity and literature," while all the rest of Europe was being 
overrun by hordes of barbarians, were facts that never pre- 
sented themselves to their minds. They merely scoffed at 
all such ideas in that highly superior manner that is peculiarly 
— and happily — their own. They are, in fact, the same 
people who consider the citizens of the United States as 
''those awful Yankee bounders." And yet many Americans, 
descendants of men who wrung their liberty from the ances- 
tors of these same bigots, accept as true and well founded the 
statements and sneers of these bigots, whose true worth and 
credibility are shown incontestably by American, no less than 
Irish history. 

On the other hand, the English nobles were also bitterly 
opposed to the Liberal Party, owing to the latter's advocacy of 
measures of reform that, to them, savored of the rankest 
kind of socialism. That the people of their own country, the 



68 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

"lower orders," should aspire to something higher than their 
daily toil, was something that the Tories were unable to under- 
stand. When the Liberals were returned to power and pro- 
ceeded to propose all kinds of novel legislation, such as an 
Old Age Pension Bill, Workmen's Insurance Bill, and other 
bills calculated to improve the condition of the "lower orders," 
the Tories laughed in their sleeves, and howled in their press. 
They had plentiful reason for their laughter, owing to the 
fact that the House of Lords was overwhelmingly Tory, and 
every bill proposed in the Lower Chamber had to be sub- 
mitted to the Lords for their approval before it could pass 
into law. The Upper Chamber, being hereditary and not 
elective, remained always a Tory bulwark of protection against 
the legislation of the Liberals. When the Tories were returned 
to power by the country, the House of Lords lapsed ever in 
a condition of slumber; but, when the Liberals were per- 
mitted a brief period of activity, the Lords discovered that 
they had a function under the Constitution, and amended or 
vetoed everything the elected house chose to do. 

The fact that the Liberal Government which succeeded the 
Tory Boer War Government was suspected of alliance with 
the Irish Party, caused so much resentment among the Tories, 
and the Tories raised so much trouble among the electors, 
that, as has already been recorded, the Liberals were scared 
of the Home Rule issue and publicly eliminated it from their 
platform. For the average Englishman draws the line at 
extending to Ireland the sympathy he feels for oppressed 
classes at home. The manner in which the Irish people 
scorned the Councils Bill and every suggestion to accept a 
lesser measure than Home Rule warned, however, the Irish 
Party at Westminster and their Liberal colleagues that some- 
thing would have to be done, as the Irish voters in England 
had secured the election of a large number of Liberal members. 
It was planned to introduce a Home Rule Bill to satisfy the 
Irish people, in the certain belief that it would receive its 
quietus in the House of Lords. This plan, however, did not 
appeal to David Lloyd George, who was anxious for other 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 69 

reasons to clip the wings of the Upper Chamber, instead of 
giving them the poHtical prestige of another victory. At the 
same time the Sinn Fein movement was gaining ground with 
so much rapidity that Mr. Redmond warned the Govern- 
ment that the situation was serious, and that the only thing 
left for them to do was to introduce a Home Rule Bill 
that would have some chance of acceptance by the Irish 
people. 

In the meantime. Chancellor Lloyd George and Premier 
Asquith had decided on a definite plan of campaign. As it 
seemed impossible to pass any remedial legislation for England 
and carry out their election promises to the country, the 
Liberals decided that the only thing to do was to put it out 
of the power of the House of Lords to mutilate and destroy 
Liberal bills. It was thus decided to send as many Bills as 
possible up to the Lords. Should the Lords reject them, 
the widespread indignation among the various sections of the 
electorate interested in the various Bills could be utilized to 
end once and for all the veto which the Lords placed on ail 
Liberal legislation. As, owing to the vast influence exercised 
by the Lords through their social and financial standing, a 
close and bitter election might be expected, the support of the 
Irish throughout the United Kingdom was necessary for the 
success of their plans. Hence, it was decided that a new 
Home Rule Bill should be drafted and included in the scope 
of the Parliament Bill, which was to deprive the Lords of 
their veto. 

Briefly, the Parliament Act provided that any bill passed 
in three successive annual sessions by the Lower House in 
the same form should become the law of the land whether 
the Upper House approved of it or not. In order that this 
should be possible, it was, of course, necessary that this 
amendment to the British Constitution should be passed 
under the old system, and the Tories were at first jubilant, 
owing to their belief that such an outrageous piece of legis- 
lation would be thrown out of the House of Lords the moment 
it made its appearance. But David Lloyd George had not 



70 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

forgotten that contingency, and, with the introduction of the 
ParHament Bill, it was also made known that its rejection 
by the House of Lords would be the signal for the creation of 
a sufficient number of Liberal Peers to override the Tory major- 
ity in the Upper Chamber and pass the Bill. Then it was 
that the Tories began to get really worried. That it was 
within the power of the Liberal Premier to demand from the 
Sovereign the creation of the required number of Peers, there 
was no doubt; and the Tories were faced with the prospect 
of having their blue blood thinned out by the introduction of 
a horde of tradesmen peers, and the Bill passed in spite of 
themselves, or of cheerfully agreeing to pass the measure that 
meant their own political effacement. After a heart-rending 
struggle, and a general election in which the people returned 
the Liberals to power, they chose the latter course. 

The passage into law of the measure that made the will of 
the elected representatives of the country supreme over the 
hereditary House of Lords was hailed with considerable 
enthusiasm in Ireland. Under the old regime the question 
always asked concerning the fate of a measure of relief for 
Ireland, was: '*How will it get past the Lords.?" To this 
question there was never a satisfactory answer. Now, how- 
ever, the way was clear, and there could be no longer any 
excuse for a failure to pass a Home Rule Bill. The Liberals 
had a substantial majority in the House of Commons, with, 
of course, the Irish vote. Without the support of the Irish 
vote, they would have been in a very precarious position, and 
would certainly have been driven from office long before the 
outbreak of the war. The people in Ireland were well aware 
of this, and were all the more confident that the Home Rule 
Bill would be something worth w^hile. The Liberals, they 
argued, would not fail to deal well with those who had kept 
them in office, and had made possible the passage of much 
remedial legislation for the English people. 

The defeat of the Unionists threw the latter into consterna- 
tion for the time being. The Parliament Bill became law on 
August 18, 1911, in spite of the assertions of the Tories that 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 71 

the King would not sign it. This, however, George V did, 
it being one of the first oflBcial acts of his reign. On Novem- 
ber 8, following a prolonged crisis in the ranks of the Tories, 
the leader of the opposition, Arthur James Balfour, was 
forced to resign. The announcement that his leadership had 
come to an end, even for the time being, was another occasion 
for rejoicing in Ireland, where the name of Balfour was hated, 
and not without good reason. 

Speculation as to the provisions of the long-expected Home 
Rule Bill then became the leading topic of the hour. There 
were rumors that the Tories were planning to defeat the 
Government, and thus make it impossible for the Liberals 
to bring in the bill at all. As a matter of fact, they actually- 
succeeded in outvoting the Government by means of a 
cleverly engineered "snap" division, but the Liberals, having 
still their Irish majority back of them, refused to resign on 
account of what was, after all, merely a trick, and went ahead 
with their proposals. 

Every hint as to the scope of the Irish measure was eagerly 
taken up by the people and discussed again and again. 
When, in October of 1911, Chief Secretary Birrell stated that 
the Home Rule Bill would bring into existence in Ireland an 
Irish Parliament consisting of two chambers, and having full 
power and control over all purely Irish concerns, the highest 
hopes were raised in Ireland, and never before had the out- 
look appeared to be so promising. Even those who were 
most opposed to the methods of the Parliamentary Party, 
owing to their conviction that the English would never give 
Ireland her legislative independence, were forced to remain 
silent and await the outcome. Many of them even expressed 
the opinion that it was possible that the English at last meant 
to do the right thing, and that the Bill would at least be of 
value as a stepping stone to something better in the future. 
These hopes were brought to the highest pitch of anticipation 
when Premier Asquith announced that the Bill would be 
introduced in the February or March of 1913, and Mr. Red- 
mond, in the course of a public speech, assured the Irish 



72 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

people that the Bill would be one that would in every way be 
satisfactory to the Irish Nationalists. 

The Bill was introduced in the House of Commons on 
April 11, 1912, Premier Asquith being its sponsor. Up to 
the afternoon of its introduction practically nothing of impor- 
tance regarding its provisions had been permitted to leak 
out. When its scope became fully known, there was intense 
disappointment among all classes in Ireland. The pledge 
given by Mr. Birrell and the assurance of Mr. Redmond, 
already referred to, were recalled with not a httle bitterness, 
when it was found that neither had been fulfilled. The chief 
defects of the measure have already been pointed out, and 
the people, who had had time to imbibe much of the teach- 
ings of the Sinn Feiners, were disappointed at the very limited 
amount of power that the Bill granted to Ireland. The 
clauses providing that the British Government should hold 
an absolute veto over every act of the Irish Parliament, 
whether pertaining to purely Irish affairs or not, and that 
all the taxes were to be gathered by English officials and 
turned over to the British treasury, were keenly resented. 

At the same time it was agreed that the Bill was better 
than nothing at all, and that it would mean the insertion of 
the thin edge of the wedge. Even if, as one Irishman re- 
marked, compared with something it was nothing, compared 
with nothing it was something. It was realized that there 
was room in the measure for building up, and that the mere 
presence of an Irish Parliament in Dublin would put new life 
and spirit into the people and strengthen them for the secur- 
ing of the complete independence of the country. While the 
Sinn Feiners and other kindred organizations held this view, 
there were others who believed that, with a few improvements 
that could be secured later, the Bill would confer sufficient 
power on Ireland to enable her to regain something of her 
old place in the world, even though remaining an integral 
portion of the British Empire. It is quite possible that those 
who were of this opinion were in the majority in the country. 
What is certain is, that no one believed in the assertion of 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 73 

Mr. Redmond that the Bill offered a jfinal settlement of Irish 
claims, and that it was practically the unanimous opinion of 
Nationalists of every shade of opinion that the Bill should be 
accepted in spite of its very obvious defects. 

There was, however, one section of the British electorate 
of the contrary opinion, who refused to accept the Bill under 
any consideration, who declared that, if the Government 
persisted in passing it, they would declare war on the Empire, 
would ask the assistance of the German Emperor, and would 
plunge the entire country into civil war. Needless to add, 
these were the English Tories and the Irish Protestant Orange- 
men, both parties under the leadership of Sir Edward Carson. 



CHAPTER XII 

Carson and his Volunteers 

IT has been stated that one of the main contributory 
causes of the RebelHon of 1916 was the action taken by 
Sir E. Carson when he and his Tory colleagues came to 
the conclusion that they could no longer repose their con- 
fidence in "constitutional" methods to defeat remedial legis- 
lation for Ireland. The defeat of the Lords and the apparent 
determination of the Liberals to proceed with the legislation 
they had announced, had forced upon the Unionists the con- 
viction that they had been beaten in the Houses of Parlia- 
ment. Thereupon they determined that they would try other 
methods. 

Some of the reasons why the Tories and their supporters 
objected to the granting of a measure of freedom to Ireland, 
however mean and halting it might be, have already been 
indicated. It is scarcely necessary to add that these were 
not the reasons which the supporters of the Union advanced 
in public. They alleged that the Bill would place the Protes- 
tant minority in the north of Ulster under the domination 
of the Catholic majority, and that, as a result of this, all the 
Protestants would immediately be foully murdered in their 
beds on some dark night when the police were not looking. 
While this seems grotesque, it was, nevertheless, the actual 
main argument that the Unionists had to advance against 
the Bill, the real truth being, of course, that they feared the 
passage of Home Rule would mean the end of the reign of 
privilege in Ireland and the granting of equal rights to both 
Protestant and Catholic. As a matter of fact, the Bill con- 
tained clauses specifically drafted for the purpose of meeting 
this form of argument and for the absolute safeguarding of 



THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 75 

the lives and the property of the Protestants in Ireland — 
clauses which, in the meanness of their insinuations, were an 
insult to the fair and generous nature of the Irish people. 

In spite of this, and the fact that the Liberals permitted the 
Bill to be amended in various ways so as to remove further 
the alleged fears of the Tories, Mr. Bonar Law, who had 
taken the place of Balfour as Tory leader, announced in the 
House of Commons that Ulster would prefer civil war to any 
form of Home Rule, and added the significant statement that, 
if the bill was persisted in, it would mean the transfer of the 
Tories' allegiance to "a foreign power." In view of the other 
statements of Carson, the actual leader of his party, to the 
effect that they would prefer the government of the Kaiser to 
that of George V, if Home Rule were enacted, there was little 
doubt left as to what "foreign power" was meant. 

Then, as a last resort and a sop to the Tories, the Govern- 
ment made the indefensible suggestion that Ireland be par- 
titioned, and that those counties of Ulster opposed to the 
Bill be cut out from its scope. It was only to be expected 
that this proposal should arouse a storm of protest in Ireland. 
The people of Ireland very rightly held that every part of 
the four Provinces was part of Ireland; that there could be no 
division of Ireland, and that to set up two separate and dis- 
tinct methods of government in one country was but to make 
the situation in Ireland more complicated and more dangerous 
and still further from a settlement. Besides, to call upon the 
most highly taxed country in Europe to support two distinct 
governments simultaneously, while contributing also to the 
Imperial Exchequer, was little less than insanity. Yet Mr. 
Redmond and his party accepted the proposal, and agreed 
to the partition of the country. The offer was promptly and 
scornfully rejected by the Unionists, who again expressed 
their determination not to permit any part of Ireland to have 
a Government of its own, whether that part should or should 
not include those counties of Ulster where the Tories had a 
majority of the vote. Thus matters were once more at a 
deadlock. 



76 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

In the meantime Carson had been busy in another direc- 
tion. He had made a spectacular descent upon Belfast, the 
capital of the North, and had there formed his League of 
Covenanters, fashioned after those who had once figured in 
the history of Scotland. He immediately began the gathering 
together of an army to resist by force the designs of the Gov- 
ernment. This was the birth of the new Volunteer movement. 
By an efficient publicity campaign, carried on with enthusiasm 
by the Northcliffe papers, the movement was bolstered up 
and subsidized, until it assumed proportions that were actu- 
ally menacing. A fund of $5,000,000 was subscribed, and 
Sir E. Carson declared in the Commons, and not without 
the best of reason, that the entire Unionist party in England 
and Ireland was at the back of his Volunteers and would 
support them in armed rebellion in Ulster. This blatant and 
rampant declaration of treason on the part of Carson and 
those who followed his flag, was laughed at by the Govern- 
ment and by the Liberal Press. 

Yet there was no possible doubt that the situation in Ulster 
had become serious. While it is very probable that the 
leaders of the "civil war" movement were merely playing a 
game of bluff in order to scare the Government and turn the 
tide of popular opinion in their favor at the next election, 
their inflammatory speeches and the manner in which they 
were left unmolested by the Government had a serious effect 
on those of their followers in Ulster who accepted at its face 
value all that had been told to them. Over and over again 
the Tories demanded that the Government appeal to the 
people, being under the belief that their warHke preparations 
would lead the people to believe in their threats and vote 
against the Home Rule Bill. When it was announced by 
Bonar Law, however, that the Tories would refuse to accept 
the Bill even in the event of the country deciding in favor of 
it, the Government decided they would not make an appeal 
to the country, that they had their duly elected majority, and 
that they would go ahead with the work. Bonar Law's 
declaration merits special attention in view of subsequent 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 77 

events. As leader of the Tory Party, he declared that con- 
stitutional government, or government by the majority of the 
people, was dead in England, in so far as he and his party 
were concerned. Force, and force alone, was to decide the 
settlement of the Irish question. 

In October, 1913, Bonar Law solemnly declared that the 
passage of the Home Rule Bill would mean the shedding of 
blood. He said that they had an army in Ulster that would 
accept no compromise, that they had all the guns they needed, 
and that they would be able to secure the services of some of 
the leading generals in the British army. He also boasted 
that there was not a regiment in the army that would fire a 
shot against the rebels of Ulster; that there was not a vessel 
in the navy that would bombard them, no matter what the 
orders were that the Government might issue. He also 
hinted that, if the worst came to the worst with the rebels, 
they would be able to secure the services of Germany, that 
the Kaiser would assist them, and that the persecution of the 
Ulster rebels would be the signal for the downfall of the 
British Empire. These statements, that would have caused 
so much sensation and indignation had they been uttered by 
an Irishman, were laughed at by the Government, and the 
Liberal newspapers waxed witty at the expense of the 
Carsonites. 

While this was being done, the people of Ireland outside of 
Ulster were remarkably calm. While there were few who 
failed to see the danger of the situation, all felt that they 
were perfectly competent to handle whatever situation might 
arise after the passage of Home Rule. It is certain that they 
were not in the least disturbed at the prospect of the British 
Empire being overthrown by the men of Ulster. The Irish 
who were able to think outside of the limits prescribed by the 
United Irish League, the electoral machine of the Parlia- 
mentary Party, were of the opinion that, as soon as the 
Ulster Protestants got rid of the delusions into which their 
English leaders had beguiled them, they would be on the 
side of Ireland, and fighting for Ireland as determinedly as 



78 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

the Nationalists themselves. At the same time they did not 
ignore the danger of the situation, and it soon became obvious 
that a crisis was at hand. 

The boast of the Tories that they had the army at their 
back was soon verified in a manner as startling as it was 
dramatic. The Tory members of Parliament began to absent 
themselves from the sittings in Westminster, evidently realiz- 
ing that they had nothing to gain there, and went over to 
Ulster, where they joined the Volunteers and posed before 
the moving picture cameras for the benefit of the Northcliffe 
papers. The fact that the Ulster Volunteers had been drilling 
for months with broom handles had made them the subject 
of ridicule in the British Liberal press, but this humor became 
rather worn when the broom handles were exchanged for 
actual rifles. These rifles were imported from America and 
from Germany, while the Birmingham Small Arms Company 
also supplied the would-be insurgents with arms and ammuni- 
tion. Gun-running along the Ulster coast became a popuW 
sport, and the newspapers were repeatedly filled with the 
exploits of the Ulstermen. Rifles were imported by the thou- 
sands, machine guns followed, and a most elaborate and highly 
organized military machine was gradually being perfected 
under the eyes of the British Government, with its knowledge 
and tacit consent, and without any interference. There is 
little room for wonder that the Carsonites were jubilant, and 
that they became more and more arrogant as the days went 
by. The Government continued to giggle in its sleeve, and 
the arms continued to pour in. 

Before the end of 1913 there had arisen in Ireland a situa- 
tion that was fraught with considerable danger. On the one 
hand was the Parliamentary Party, allied heart and soul with 
the British Liberals and, like them, affecting to scorn the 
preparations made by the men who were led by Carson. 
They had all their faith pinned on the passage of the Home 
Rule Bill, and affected to believe that all the guns and 
ammunition imported into Ulster were all for the sole purpose 
of impressing the British voter. On the other side were the 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 79 

Unionists, English and Irish, who stated that they had no 
longer any use for the British Parliament, that they would 
pin their faith on the doctrine of physical force, and would 
rise in armed rebellion if the Home Rule Bill was signed by 
the British monarch. Between the two were the people of 
Ireland, strangely divided as to what to do, yet trusting that 
the Ulster Volunteers would come to their senses and join 
with them in the common task of rebuilding the nation, 
instead of selling themselves for the sorry purpose of plucking 
out of the fire the chestnuts of the English nobles and Com- 
moners who had property in Ireland and were afraid that 
their rent-rolls might be curtailed under a native legislature. 
Up to the end of 1913 the work of organizing the Ulster 
Volunteers continued. Nothing that could be done to inflame 
the passions of the Orangemen against their fellow-Irishmen 
was left undone. The threat of Germany was repeated again 
and again, and there were well-defined and uncontradicted 
reports to the effect that Carson had his ambassador in 
Berlin, making the necessary negotiations for assistance from 
the Germans when the time should come, and had even 
himself visited the Kaiser. Still the Government remained 
inactive. Cannons, large and small, were imported; armored 
automobiles were brought into Ulster; 50,000 men, it was 
said, were well armed and equipped; all the machinery of a 
Provisional Government was prepared; tents, baggage, ambu- 
lance wagons, regiments of cavalry, corps of motor cycle 
scouts and dispatch riders — everything, in fact, that could 
add to the efficiency of the "rebel" forces, was brought into 
being. Disloyalty was sown broadcast in the British army. 
The English Tory aristocracy entered with enthusiasm into 
the treason. Lord Northcliffe, Lord Londonderry, Lord 
Abercorn, Lord Willoughby de Broke, Lord Roberts, and a 
score more of the representatives of the titled and privileged 
class entered with Sir Edward Carson into the plot. At last 
the situation became such that the Liberals decided it was 
time to take some action, and they ordered certain of the 
regiments quartered at the Curragh, in County Kildare, to 



80 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

proceed to Ulster to uphold the dignity of His Majesty's 
Government. The officers of the regiments in question 
promptly mutinied. 

The mutiny at the Curragh had a profound effect through- 
out both Ireland and England. The Liberals were thunder- 
struck. The Tories were jubilant. They had made good 
their threats that the army would refuse to take action against 
them, and that, as soon as they declared their Provisional 
Government, they would have the support of all the British 
troops quartered in Ireland. The resignation of General 
French (who later was eager for Irish soldiers to assist him in 
Flanders), followed by that of General Ewart, and the threat 
that many more would follow if the Ulster rebels were mo- 
lested, caused another sensation. The Government decided 
that it was not the time to take action, allowed the mutineers 
and the traitors to have their own way, and settled down once 
more to their task o^ trying to kill the Carson Army by quips 
in their daily and weekly papers. 

But, while this was being done and the general muddle was 
becoming more and more involved, there were some men who 
were not idle. The men who had never trusted in England's 
promise of justice to Ireland had been watching the course 
of events with a keener interest than anyone else. These 
men had never lost their conviction that well-phrased pleas 
for justice would never influence Enghsh minds. England 
would grant Ireland only what she feared to refuse. To 
expect altruism from a foreign government was foolish. In 
the manner in which the Ulster Volunteers organized, and the 
manner in which the Government dealt with the situation, 
they saw the way to the accomplishment of their own plans. 



CHAPTER XIII 

The Irish Volunteers 

NOVEMBER, 1913, will mark the beginning of a new 
epoch in the history of Ireland. Towards the end 
of that month the Irish Volunteers sprang into being, 
spread throughout the land with a rapidity that amazed even 
the most ardent and enthusiastic, and presented the British 
Government with a new angle to a situation that was fast 
slipping from its control — if, in fact, it had ever at any time 
had actual control of the position of affairs in Ireland. 

On Wednesday evening, November 26, 1913, the Irish 
National Volunteers were organized. The inaugural meeting 
was held in the historic Rotunda, at the corner of Parnell and 
O'Connell Streets, not in the actual building itself but in 
the large skating rink just north of it and in the Rotunda 
Gardens. There had been but little publicity given to the 
meeting. The Irish Independent and the Freeman's Journal 
practically ignored the requests that were made to them to 
publish notice of the coming meeting in their news columns. 
The meeting was scheduled to begin at eight o'clock, and at 
half -past seven a. heavy drizzle of rain settled down over the 
city, accompanied by a thick, chilling fog that hung like a 
blanket over everything. Yet at half-past six the approach 
to the Rotunda Rink was packed with a vast crowd of men, 
waiting in quiet and orderly manner for the doors to be 
opened. There were a few women there also, but they were 
there in the role of sightseers, and took no active part in the 
meeting. 

Inside the great rink all was bustle and animation for two 
or more hours before the opening of the doors. The men 
who had charge of the arrangements, practically every one 
of whom was a member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, 



82 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

had brought to the meeting 5000 enlistment blanks for dis- 
tribution among the men in the audience. These were handed 
out in books of one hundred each to the stewards, who were 
directed to return the fiUed-in blanks to the secretaries after 
the meeting. The entire hall was brilliantly lighted, and a 
large platform had been erected on the north side with seats 
for five thousand people facing it on three sides. 

That meeting was one of the most wonderful ever held in 
the City of Hurdles. From Glasnevin and Drumcondra on 
the north, from Phibsboro on the west, from Howth and Clon- 
tarf and Dollymount on the east, and from Terenure, Rath- 
mines, and Inchicore on the south, thousands of men and lads 
traveled through the city to the Rotunda. From Finglas and 
Dalkey and Kingstown and Bray they came, and from every 
side and corner of the ancient city itself. Young men and 
boys, old men, men married and single, marched through the 
fog and the drizzle, singing and laughing, happy as only a 
Dublin crowd can be happy when it chooses, and one and all 
animated with the same thought — that after months and 
years of inaction there was at last going to be something 
practical done, that the call to arms had been sounded, and 
that they were there to answer the call. 

At seven-thirty the doors were thrown open and the im- 
mense crowd surged in, filled with enthusiasm but yet without 
disorder. As if by magic, the five thousand empty seats were 
filled, and still the men marched through the doors, not in 
twos or threes but in a steady and seemingly never-ending 
stream. When the order to close the doors was carried out, 
the immense throng that gathered outside in the gardens 
bore down the doors by sheer weight, the woodwork on both 
sides being also torn from its place. Despite the inclement 
weather conditions prevailing outside, those who were unable 
to gain access to the rink remained in the gardens, striving 
to gain some indication of what was being done inside and 
cheering when those inside cheered. 

A rather illuminating incident took place some little time 
before the meeting started. The police authorities, not think- 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 83 

ing that the matter was one of any importance, detailed two 
officers to guard the gates. When the proportion of the 
gathering was borne slowly in on these representatives of an 
alien law, they telephoned for assistance, with the result 
that reinforcements were hurried to the scene. One of the 
new arrivals, who had apparently become possessed of the 
idea that the meeting was an illegal one and that they had 
been sent to suppress it, lost no time in asserting himself. He 
alighted from a trolley car at the moment that a number of 
men marched up to the gates from O'Connell street. The 
officer placed his burly form square in the entrance and per- 
emptorily ordered the men to go back. One young lad, who 
had a hurley^ on his shoulder, waved the w^eapon in the air 
and commanded the policeman to get out of the way. In a 
second the officer was surrounded by angry men, and it was 
only the prompt intervention of his comrades on his behalf 
that saved him the necessity of taking a trip to the nearest 
hospital. The word was hurriedly whispered to him that 
there were ''thousands more of 'em inside," and he took his 
place in the gutter with his wiser comrades. 

It is unnecessary to state that the utmost enthusiasm pre- 
vailed throughout the meeting. Eoin MacNeill, Professor of 
the National University and Vice-President of the Gaelic 
League, presided over the meeting, and made a stirring 
appeal. A number of other speeches added to the interest, 
but the real work was done by the stewards who distributed 
the recruiting blanks among the men in the rink. As has 
been mentioned, there were 5000 of these on hand, and it was 
expected that this number would be sufficient for some con- 
siderable time to come. The men who planned the meeting 
would have been well satisfied if they had been able to 
secure 5000 Volunteers in three months. The actual fact was 
that within two hours there was not a single unsigned blank 
to be had in the rink. In that period of time the stewards 
had disposed of every blank that had been received from the 
printers, and the men who had not been able to secure blanks 
^ A stick used in hurling. 



84 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

wrote out their pledges on the backs of envelopes, the margins 
of newspapers, and anything else on which the words could 
be inscribed. 

The only pledge that was asked of the Volunteers was that 
they would do everything to secure and establish the peace 
and prosperity of Ireland. They were not asked to aflSliate 
themselves with any other organization, or in any way to take 
sides with others than their fellow- Volunteers. The keynote 
of all the speeches that were made was, that it was not the 
intention of the Volunteers to band themselves together in 
opposition to the men of Ulster, or to oppose any party, any 
section, or any nationality. There was nothing said against 
Mr. Redmond or the Parhamentary Party. There was no 
attack on England, either the people of that country or their 
government. All that they were there to take care of was 
Ireland — to unite together in arms for the purpose of doing 
all that lay in their power to further the interests of Ireland, 
to protect Ireland against any aggressor, and to assist the 
promised Irish Parliament in the carrying out of its legal 
acts. 

There was, however, one little feature of the meeting that 
did not escape notice, and which had a significance all its 
own. Every one of the stewards and officials at the meeting 
wore on the lapel of his coat a small silken bow, the center 
of which was white, while on one side was green and on the 
other side orange. The green, white, and orange had long 
been recognized as the colors which the Irish Republican 
Brotherhood had adopted as the Irish national banner, of 
which more will be said later on. The green, white, and orange 
prevailed at the Volunteer meeting, and there were few if 
any present to whom it did not recall the old Fenian motto: 
"Only the Gael can make laws for the Gael." 

A scene remarkable in its intense and unbounded enthusi- 
asm marked the close of the meeting. When it was announced 
that over 5000 men had that night joined hands once more to 
take up arms for the defense of Ireland, the cheer that rang 
out from the seven thousand persons present might almost 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 85 

literally have rent the roof. It was a cheer that was echoed 
later throughout the land, that increased in volume with the 
passing of the days, that burst forth in renewed vigor on that 
morning of April 24, 1916, when the tricolors of the Irish 
Republic flew from the flagstaff of the Dublin Post Office. 

Two days later, on Friday, November 28, an Arms Act, 
prohibiting the importation into Ireland of arms and ammuni- 
tion of all descriptions, was proclaimed throughout the length 
and breadth of the land, promulgated by the British Liberal 
Cabinet and signed with the seal of King George V. 

At the risk of recapitulating, we must again state that these 
facts must be borne carefully in mind by those who wish to 
gain a clear and unbiased view of the Irish Revolution. For 
two years the Orangemen, led and financed by English 
Members of the Imperial Parliament, had been drilling, 
importing arms, cannon, machine guns, ammunition, and every 
other engine of war; had openly preached armed defiance of 
the decrees of the Government; had stated that they would 
call the German Emperor to their aid; had, in a word, com- 
mitted the most flagrant treason in every sense of the term, 
and had been allowed to do so undisturbed. The British 
Army generals and officers, who were directly and indirectly 
responsible for the mutiny at the Curragh, had been allowed 
to go unpunished; one concession after another had been 
granted by the Liberals to the Carsonites, until the Home 
Rule Bill had been whittled down to a shadow, and the Irish 
people had sat idly by, law-abiding and peaceful, waiting for 
the fulfillment of the many long-deferred promises that had 
been made to them. All of this time Mr. Redmond and his 
colleagues had voted with and thereby sustained in power 
the Liberal Government, until it had become a common taunt 
in the mouths of the Tories that the Government had been 
"saved by the Irish." 

Yet, within forty-eight hours after the formation of the 
Irish Volunteers, who expressed no menace to anyone and no 
word of treason, and who desired only to secure the protec- 
tion of their own people, that same Liberal Government, still 



86 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

aided by the Irish ParHamentarians, proclaimed an Arms 
Act throughout the land, making it legally impossible to 
obtain arms for these Volunteers. The Carsonites, the avowed 
and bitter enemies of the Government and of the Irish Party, 
had been allowed two full years in which to prepare, two years 
during which there had been no such thing as an Irish Volun- 
teer in the land; but immediately the Nationalists sought to 
exercise the same right to bear arms, a "friendly'* govern- 
ment — which, one might have imagined, would have looked 
to them for assistance — and the men who claimed to repre- 
sent them in the British Parliament, combined to take from 
them those rights which they had tacitly granted to the 
Volunteers of Ulster. It is scarcely a subject for wonder that 
the people of Ireland began to ask themselves a few pertinent 
questions, and to wonder who were their foes and who were 
their friends. 

The immediate effect of the action of the Government was 
to stimulate recruiting in the Irish Volunteers to such an 
extent that the movement spread throughout the country 
like wildfire. North, west and south of Dublin the move- 
ment spread until the campaign became nation-wide. With 
an ardor that few had believed possible, the men of the nation 
flocked to the banner of the Volunteers, and night after night 
was spent in drilling and marching and in the teaching of the 
art of the soldier to the boys and men of the Fighting Race, 
who had for so many years been forced into acquiescence with 
a merely political propaganda — a propaganda which had, in 
its last stage, degenerated into a mild milk-and-water effort 
to gain for Ireland "freedom" in the shape of a third-rate 
debating society masquerading as a National Parliament. 

Just what were the objects the British Government sought to 
gain by its actions in regard to the Volunteers, and in which 
it was supported by the votes of the Irish Party in West- 
minster, is likely to remain one of the inscrutable mysteries 
of history. With a total disregard of public opinion, they 
did not vouchsafe to take the people into their confidence. 
Even while the Arms Act was in force, the Ulster Volunteers 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 87 

carried out a number of sensational gun-running exploits 
under the very eyes of the authorities. The Nationalists were 
forced to ask themselves why it was that there should be one 
law for the men of Ulster and another for the rest of Ireland. 
They wondered if the British Government was sincere about 
Home Rule, or if it was allowing the Tories to go ahead so 
as to have an excuse of letting the Bill drop. This, it was 
argued by some, would explain why they were so anxious to 
prevent the National Volunteers from securing arms. If the 
Government were playing a fair game with the Irish people, 
why, it was asked, did they proclaim the Arms Act only after 
the Irish Volunteers were organized? Were Mr. Redmond 
and his followers in the House of Commons working merely 
in the interests of the British Empire, or were they working 
to secure legislative freedom for Ireland? If the latter, why 
was he against the Irish Volunteers? Why had he allowed 
the Government, which he controlled, to permit the Carson- 
ites to arm, and then allowed that same Government to pre- 
vent the rest of the country from doing the same thing? It 
was well realized that the Government had to depend on him 
for its existence. Firm action on his part would either throw 
the Government out of office, wreck all its plans, and consign it 
to political oblivion for another generation, or would compel 
that Government to apply the law equally throughout the 
whole of Ireland. Answers to these questions were not forth- 
coming, but the Volunteers continued to gain strength, and 
the unrest and dissatisfaction throughout the country con- 
tinued to grow until, at the end of 1913, the situation had 
come to assume all the proportions of a crisis pregnant with 
disaster for one side or the other. 



CHAPTER XIV 

The Massacre of Bachelor's Walk 

EVENTS followed one another with startling rapidity 
after the formation of the Irish National Volunteers. 
Both in Ireland and England it was felt that the 
advent of the year 1914 meant the dawn of vital things for 
Ireland. The political atmosphere was charged with all the 
elements of storm, and it was felt that the crisis that had 
been so long deferred could not be held back for another 
twelve months. In the first place, the Home Rule Bill was 
scheduled to pass into law in the fall of the year. That, 
in itself, was sufficient to render inevitable action of some 
sort by one of the opposing sides. Then, again, the fact that 
there were two sets of Volunteers in Ireland, one with a 
declared purpose of civil war and the other with a temper 
rapidly rising, did not render the situation any less threaten- 
ing or complicated. 

The year had not far advanced before it became obvious 
that the dominating factor in the situation promised to be 
the Irish Volunteers. In spite of the fact that the official 
Parliamentary Party, which claimed to control ninety per 
cent of the Nationalists, had first of all frowned upon the 
Volunteers, had acquiesced in the effort to prevent their 
securing arms, and had then done everything in its power to 
suppress the movement without making its hostility too patent 
to the people, the Volunteers continued to add to their num- 
bers and influence in every part of the country, until it 
became obvious that they were a force which must be reck- 
oned with and could no longer be ignored. It was thereupon 
decided to try other tactics. 

The actions of the British Government had already clearly 
shown that the Liberals did not look with favor upon the 



THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 89 

Irish Volunteers, however tolerantly they may have been 
inclined to regard the Volunteers of Sir Edward Carson. In 
fact, the manner in which the Government had acted lent 
color to the rumors that were in circulation to the effect that 
the Government intended at the last moment to destroy the 
Home Rule Bill, to cite the existence of the Ulster Volunteers 
as an excuse for their action, and to trust to the fact that 
these Volunteers were sufficiently well trained and well armed 
to cow the rest of the Irish people into an acceptance of their 
fate. That this feeling became stronger with the passing of 
the days has since been demonstrated in an unmistakable 
manner, and at the same time there became noticeable a 
growing feeling of discontent with the Parliamentary Party 
and with the mean and halting Provisions of the Home Rule 
Bill. 

Mr. Redmond, always an astute politician, was not slow 
to notice that the situation had changed and that his power 
had weakened. His official newspapers had poured ridicule 
upon the Volunteers, stating that they were controlled by a 
party of men who had long been discredited in the eyes of 
the world and doing everything in their power to prevent 
the young men of the country from joining them. They 
seemed to forget that the Irish are naturally a martial people, 
more prone to action than to secret diplomacy; that the Vol- 
unteers' appeal to the oldest traditions of the race was one 
almost impossible to resist; that the precedent of Grattan's 
Volunteers was a most powerful argument, and that the pos- 
sibility of a betrayal at the hands of the Liberals was gradu- 
ally becoming a matter of serious moment in the eyes of the 
rank and file of the Irish people. 

The newspaper campaign against the Volunteers having 
failed, still another change of tactics was decided on. When 
the National Volunteers were organized the previous year, it 
was publicly stated that the Provisional Committee and the 
officers of the central organization in Dublin would hold 
office only until such time as the various branches of the 
Volunteers could send delegates to a National Convention, 



90 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

when the delegates would elect their own Committee and their 
own officers. At the time when the arrangements for the 
holding of this convention in the Rotunda in DubUn were 
almost completed, the entire country was thrown into a state 
of agitation by the sudden demand, made by Mr. Redmond 
upon the Provisional Committee, that he be permitted to 
co-opt to that Committee a number of members equal to 
nearly twice the number of those who at that time composed 
the committee. In his letter of demand Mr. Redmond stated 
that the then governing body was unrepresentative of the 
people, and that, as the leader of the Irish Party, he had the 
right to the control of the organization. 

It is possible that, if Mr. Redmond had confined his demand 
to an equal representation on the committee, a great deal of 
unpleasantness might have been avoided. As it was, the 
fact that nothing less than a clear and overriding majority 
would satisfy the Parliamentary leader was so very obvious 
that the men whose efforts had brought the Volunteers into 
being entered a strong protest against so unreasonable a 
demand. It must also be said that these men were sus- 
picious of the motives that actuated Mr. Redmond*s action. 
It seemed palpable to them that he was acting in concert with 
the British Government, and that it was the hope of the 
British Government to disrupt the National Volunteers. 
They, therefore, refused the demand, and said that the matter 
would be best decided at the Convention. 

In reply to this Mr. Redmond made a still more insistent 
demand upon the Committee, and received a reply that it 
was the intention of the Provisional Committee to resign 
office immediately the Convention met. They appealed to 
Mr. Redmond, for the sake of national unity, to withdraw 
his demands and to leave the election of the Governing 
Committee and the officers to the election of the delegates 
at the Convention, assuring him at the same time that he 
and his party would have an absolutely free hand at that 
time to do everything they wished to secure the election of 
men who were supporters of the Parliamentary Party. 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 91 

Mr. Redmond's reply to this was an ultimatum. Ignoring 
the appeal, he served notice on the Provisional Committee 
that they would have at once to agree to his appointing a 
majority on their committtee, or — and he made the threat 
positively and in so many words — he would "smash the 
entire organization." As it was known that he had the ready 
and willing assistance of the British Government at his com- 
mand for so patriotic a work as the smashing of the Volun- 
teers, the Provisional Committee considered that there was 
nothing left for them to do but to permit Mr. Redmond to 
assume at one and the same time both the command of and 
the responsibility for the Volunteers. This was done, and 
was followed by an immediate splitting of the organization 
into two opposing factions — one consisting of the followers 
of the men who had formed the Volunteers in the first place, 
and the other of those who accepted the leadership of Mr. 
Redmond's nominees on the committee. At the command 
of Mr. Redmond the proposed Convention was abandoned. 
It seemed almost as though the official Irish leader was afraid 
of allowing the rank and file of the Volunteers the exercise 
of a vote in the selection of their officers. 

This split, however, did not manifest itself at the time, the 
members of the enlarged committee working together in appar- 
ent harmony with one another. The actual division of opinion 
came about owing to a different conception of the scope of 
the Volunteers. It was apparently the desire of Mr. Red- 
mond, as expressed by his nominees on the committee, that 
the Volunteers should not arm to any extent, a fact which 
gave further impetus to the rumors that a betrayal was 
planned, with the sinister feature added that the Parlia- 
mentary Party was aiding and abetting that betrayal. On 
the other hand, the section of the Volunteers that held to the 
ideals that gave birth to the movement were determined that 
the men should be armed, and they set about carrying that 
determination into effect. This was to be shown in a tragic 
manner in the middle of the year. 

On a cloudless morning in late July some watchers high up 



92 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

on the Hill of Howth saw a white-winged yacht bending its 
way to the harbor beside the village. One of them had a 
telescope to his eye, and, even as he watched, he noticed a 
small flag waving from the landward side of the vessel. 
Although the flag was small, the man on the hill saw through 
his glass the bright colors of the orange, white, and green 
standing out in bold relief. He said a word to his compan- 
ions, and together they ran along the steep and stony path 
that winds down to the village. Within the next few minutes 
words of vital import were being whispered over the electric 
wires to Dublin. This was on Sunday morning, July 26th, 
1916. 

Other early risers remarked that morning that the Volun- 
teers were out for an early march. They passed along the 
broad road that winds beside the sea all the way from Amiens 
Street Station in Dublin to the foot of Howth Head. There 
were not a great many of them, and they carried no weapons, 
but they marched along singing and whistling and obviously 
in the best of good humor. The morning was one of those 
warm, soft Irish mornings that are peculiar to the country, 
when the sea and the sky seem to blend together in a tender 
union, and the air is laden with the many perfumes of the 
gardens and the fields. It was the kind of morning that 
might appropriately be given up to dreams and the writing 
of poetry. Yet it was on such a day that stern deeds had 
been again and again enacted on Irish soil. 

As the yacht drew up alongside of the little pier, the con- 
tingent of Volunteers swung around the bend, and a rousing 
cheer broke simultaneously from the marchers and those on 
the vessel. Without a moment's loss of time, hundreds of 
rifles and rounds of ammunition were unloaded from the 
yacht and piled up on the quay. Here willing hands took 
charge of the rifles, handing them over to waiting lines of 
men, each of whom slung three or four over his shoulder. 
The ammunition was also taken care of, and, when the 
yacht had been relieved of its cargo, the men began their 
march back to Dublin. 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 93 

So far the gun-running exploit of the Volunteers had been 
carried through with brilliant success. The arms had been 
brought in, and had been placed in the hands of those who 
most needed them. It is true that one lone policeman at the 
village had attempted to stop the landing, but his effort had 
merely added the requisite touch of humor to the proceedings. 
But the oflBcer of the law, who probably felt that his dignity 
had been outraged, while powerless to prevent the "lawless- 
ness" of the Volunteers, was not slow to think of a means of 
preventing the arms being placed in safekeeping. Thus it 
happened that the same telephone wire that only an hour or 
two previously had carried one message to Dublin, now car- 
ried an urgent message of a very different character. 

The return march of the Volunteers was a parade of triumph. 
They carried their empty guns on their shoulders with all the 
pride of the tried veteran returning from the field of victory. 
As they passed the people on the roadside, they were greeted 
with the cheers of hundreds who realized what had been done. 
Hundreds turned back from their contemplated trip to Howth, 
and thus it happened that a numerous and enthusiastic com- 
pany of men were soon marching towards Dublin with visions 
of the freedom of Ireland dancing before their eyes. 

At the outskirts of the city, within the borough of Fairview, 
it was seen that there were other marchers out that morning. 
The telephone message of the lone policeman had done its 
work, and a company of the King's Own Scottish Borderers, 
a British regiment which had recently been drafted from 
England into the capital, had been dispatched to intercept 
the Volunteers and take the arms from them. When the two 
bodies of men were close together, the Scottish soldiers came 
to a halt and spread across the road, holding their loaded 
rifles at the ready. The Volunteers halted also. The British 
officer thereupon ordered that the arms be turned over to his 
men, promising that, if this were done, the Volunteers would 
be allowed to return to their homes unmolested. 

It happened, however, that the Volunteers preferred to take 
the chance of not returning to their homes at all rather than 



94 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

surrender the guns. They intimated as much to the captain, 
who then told his men to take the guns from the Irishmen. 
In the melee that followed the Volunteers defended them- 
selves with the butt-ends of their rifles, and were successful 
in holding their ground. A number of them held the soldiers 
at bay until their comrades had got a good start along the 
road leading to Drumcondra, in the northern section of Dublin 
City. The defenders of the pass then beat a strategic retreat 
themselves, leaving the baffled soldiery angry and discom- 
fited. Every rifle that had been landed was taken safely 
into the city by the Volunteers. 

There was great rejoicing in Dublin during the day. The 
news of the exploit spread like wildfire through .every quarter 
of the city, and the greatest jubilation prevailed. The little 
scrimmage was looked on as an initial victory over the foreign 
garrison, which, for reasons that are abundantly clear, was 
always cordially hated by the Irish people. It was obvious, 
also, that the King's Own Scottish Borderers were smarting 
under a feeling that they had been defeated, and the fact 
that the men who had beaten them carried only empty guns 
did not add to their good humor. Instead of returning to the 
city after the incident, they decided to remain on the Howth 
Road for a time and enjoy the sea air. The fact that they 
seemed afraid to return through the city soon became known 
in Dublin and but added to the gaiety of the situation. 

In the cool of the evening the British warriors came march- 
ing back once more. The city was there to meet them. All 
along their line of march they were watched by the people, 
and smiles were not infrequent. Knowing the delicate sensi- 
bilities of the British redcoat, however, no words were ad- 
dressed to them, the people being quite content to watch 
them marching past, minus the guns they had gone out to 
obtain but failed to bring back. At the corner of Bachelor's 
Walk and O'Connell Bridge, however, a small boy made a 
remark that reached the ears of the British officer. That 
remark was not complimentary, and was also heard by the 
scores of people close at hand. Within less than thirty 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 95 

seconds the oflScer had halted his detachment, faced the men 
about, and at the word of command a volley of rifle bullets 
crashed into the crowd. This was twice repeated, while the 
dazed and defenseless men, women, and children ran wildly 
for shelter. Then the King's Own Scottish Borderers faced 
around again and resumed their march to barracks, leaving 
the street littered with the bleeding bodies of the dead and 
the dying. 



CHAPTER XV 

The King's Veto 

THE killing of four persons and the wounding of sixty 
others by the British troops at Bachelor's Walk sent 
a thrill of horror through the four provinces of Ireland. 
The wantonness of the attack, the ruthless firing of the military 
upon an unarmed crowd of men, women, and children, did 
more to stimulate the Volunteer movement than anything 
else that had happened since its inauguration. It was felt 
by the men of the nation that the crisis had arrived, that 
they would have to face the loaded rifles of the British again, 
and they naturally decided that it would be better for them 
to have the means of defending themselves. 

However inconceivable it may seem, the British Govern- 
ment took no effective steps to punish the officer responsible 
for the murders. An inquiry was, of course, ordered, but 
it came to nothing. Neither did Mr. Redmond and his 
colleagues take any steps to bring the Government to a proper 
realization of the crime that had been committed, in spite of 
the fact that it was by virtue of their votes that the Liberals 
held office. It became more and more obvious that the views 
of the Sinn Feiners, who held that the British Liberals and 
the British Tories were alike enemies of the Irish people, 
were further confirmed by the events of each succeeding day. 
First, the Home Rule Bill, on its introduction, was a very- 
much weaker measure than had been expected; then it had 
weakened little by little by concessions to Sir Edward Carson 
and his Volunteers, and the partition of the country had 
been virtually agreed on. Then the Ulster Volunteers had 
been allowed to arm and become an efficient fighting force, 
while the Irish Volunteers had been prevented from securing 
arms, and every effort had been made by the Government, 



THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 97 

assisted by Mr. Redmond, to disband the organization. 
Lastly, the Ulster Volunteers had been allowed to land arms 
since the proclamation of the Arms Act, while the Irish 
Volunteers had been intercepted by the military, who, in 
revenge for their disappointment, had massacred and wounded 
Irish men and women and children in the very center of 
Dublin. 

In conjunction with all of this, the appeal was being con- 
stantly made by Mr. Redmond and the British Government 
to forget old sores, to let the history of the past be buried for 
all time, to permit the centuries of murder, pillage, and out- 
rage committed by the British on the Irish to be consigned to 
the limbo of forgotten miseries, to renounce every ideal of 
National liberty, and to accept instead a pitiable sop of paro- 
chial legislation, which even many of its supporters declared 
would prove unworkable in practice and to which, such as 
it was, a string was attached. Even while the declarations 
of eternal friendship and lasting brotherhood were being ex- 
changed between the Irish Parliamentary Party and the 
leaders of the British Government, the officials of that gov- 
ernment were doing everything that lay in their power to 
promote new hatreds and revive the old. 

Yet, while apparent harmony reigned in Westminster, and 
the Irish members and their British brethren fraternized on 
the Terrace of the Parliament House over their strawberries 
and cream, the Irish people, the Irish Volunteers and the 
relatives of those who had been killed and wounded in the 
massacre were looking at matters from a very different angle. 
Even those who had previously scouted the idea that a 
betrayal was contemplated now began to wonder what could 
be at the back of all these ominous incidents, and what events 
in the future they might portend. Men went around with 
anger in their hearts and grim resolve in their minds. Vol- 
unteers who had hitherto clung to the Parliamentary Party 
went over to those whose doctrines had been best expressed 
in the landing of the rifles at Howth. The split between the 
two sections became wider and more pronounced, and it was 



98 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

not long before there were two distinct organizations, — one 
under the control of Mr. Redmond, known as the National 
Volunteers, and the other led by men of various organizations, 
who believed that a final resort to physical force was inevi- 
table, known as the Irish Volunteers. From the time of the 
outrage on Bachelor's Walk, defections from the ranks of the 
National Volunteers to the Irish Volunteers continued in an 
ever-increasing stream. At the time when Mr. Redmond had 
forced his nominees on the Provisional Committee, there were 
over 166,000 men in the Irish National Volunteers. Within a 
few weeks of that action more than 3000 of these had broken 
away from the Parliamentarians to form the Irish Volunteers, 
and their strength continued to grow week by week, while 
that of the National Volunteers decreased correspondingly. 
Professor Eoin MacNeill, who had presided at the inaugural 
meeting in November, 1913, was the recognized leader of the 
Irish Volunteers, while Mr. Redmond was supposed to be the 
leader of the others. 

Meanwhile the wordy warfare continued across the channel, 
the people in Ireland turning more and more to their own 
country for a settlement of the question and leaving the 
politicians to make the best they could out of the muddle. 
When the British Parliament opened on February 10, 1913, 
the Irish question was the leading topic of the day. The 
Home Rule Bill came up for its first reading on its third and 
supposedly final trip through Parliament, and was passed by 
a substantial majority. On the occasion of the Second Read- 
ing, on March 9, Premier Asquith made his suggestion that 
various sections of the Province of Ulster be excluded from 
the scope of the Bill. His proposals raised a storm of protest 
throughout Ireland, the reasons advanced against this latest 
concession to the Carsonites being threefold: first, the senti- 
mental objection that Ireland was Irish from the center to the 
four seas, and that any partition was a violation of the natural 
rights of the people; second, the grave injustice of expecting 
Ireland to support two governments; third, to cut off a por- 
tion of the northern province would be but to accentuate and 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 99 

make permanent the artificial division that had been created 
by the Tory Party and fostered by England for centuries pre- 
viously with the object of driving a wedge between the North 
and the South. Mr. Redmond accepted the proposals; Sir 
Edward Carson refused to accept the Bill, even thus amended. 

Briefly, the proposals were that a poll of the Parliamentary 
electors should be taken in the counties of Ulster, and that 
any county in which a majority of the voters so desired might 
be excluded from the operation of the Home Rule Act for a 
period of six years from the date of the first sitting of the 
Irish Parliament. Each county so excluded would retain its 
representation in the United Kingdom House of Commons. 
This would allow time for at least two general elections in the 
United Kingdom, and five or six years' experience of the 
Dublin Parliament, before Ulster could be asked to submit to 
Irish Home Rule; and then its inclusion would take place 
only with the full and mature consent of the British electorate. 
As the Nationalists had a majority in six of the eleven coun- 
ties (the cities of Belfast and Derry being counted as counties 
for the purposes of the vote), the Unionists could count only 
on securing the exclusion of five counties in all. The per- 
centage of Nationalists in Tyrone was 55, in Cavan 81^, in 
Monaghan 74f , in Donegal 78y^^, in Fermanagh 56, and in 
Derry 56. The Unionists, therefore, could at the most count 
only on gaining the exclusion of the counties of Antrim, Down, 
and Armagh and in the cities of Londonderry and Belfast. 
As Belfast is situated in County Antrim, and the Tory major- 
ity in the City of Londonderry would probably be more 
than neutralized by the Nationalist plurality in the country 
districts, an attempt was evidently made to slur over the 
fact that six of the nine counties in Ulster were Nationalist. 
There was even some doubt as to the ability of the Tories to 
gain a clear majority in all of these districts, as many of the 
Presbyterians would certainly vote for Home Rule. 

It is very probable that one of the chief objections to the 
scheme entertained by the Unionists was that it would very 
probably show to the world that they were supported only 



100 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

by a very small section of the country, whereas it was always 
their contention that they represented the entire province of 
Ulster. Outside possibly one-sixth of the territory of that 
Province, Ulster was Nationalist, and the Tories were too well 
aware of the fact to evince any enthusiasm for the proposed 
vote. What they asked for was the permanent exclusion from 
the scope of the Home Rule Act of the entire Province, and 
that was more than Premier Asquith was willing to concede 
at that time. Asquith promised that he would embody his 
proposals in an Amending Bill, to be introduced as soon as the 
opportunity arose. 

Following this attempt at a patchwork compromise, the 
Curragh "mutiny" threw the Tories into an ecstasy of delight, 
their leading newspapers openly espousing the cause of the 
officers who had refused to entrain for the north of Ireland 
when ordered to do so by the Government. The Liberals 
went ahead as though nothing had happened, the Home Rule 
Bill passing its second reading by a vote of 356 to 276 on 
April 6. The third and final reading was then passed on May 
25, the vote being 351 to 274, a majority for the bill of 77, 
and nothing remained but the Royal Assent to place the 
measure on the Statute Book. 

On June 23 Lord Crewe, on behalf of the Premier, intro- 
duced in the House of Lords the Amending Bill. This pro- 
vided that if, within three months after the passing of the 
Amending Bill, not less than one-tenth of the Parliamentary 
electors in any county in Ulster should so petition, a poll 
would be taken on the question of temporary exclusion. If a 
majority of the votes cast favored exclusion, the Home Rule 
Act would not apply to that county until the expiration of 
six years, beginning on the day of the first meeting of the 
Irish Parliament, and then only when this extended applica- 
tion of the Act was ratified by the British Parliament. The 
House of Lords, however, so radically amended the Amending 
Bill before according it a third reading on July 14, that no 
expectation could be entertained of its acceptance by the 
Commons. Then, for four days, July 21-24, the leaders 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 101 

met together in secret conference in Buckingham Palace in a 
final endeavor to settle the vexed question. The conference 
proved a failure, and on July £6 the military murders on 
Bachelor's Walk blasted the last hopes of peace. To render 
the situation even more critical, the fact leaked out that two 
days previously, on July 24, the Ulster Volunteers, in defiance 
of the Arms Act and under the very eyes of the police and 
the military, had successfully landed a consignment of 25,000 
Mauser rifles and a million rounds of ammunition at Larne 
in County Antrim. 

Thus it was that every attempt made by the politicians to 
settle the Irish question ended in failure. One concession after 
another in connection with a bill that even in its original 
form was studiously weak and mean, had not placated the 
British Tories or the Ulstermen who allowed themselves to be 
led by them. Conference had also failed. It appeared that 
nothing could avert trouble, and, in the midst of it all, the 
British soldiers had committed a dastardly, brutal, and cow- 
ardly crime upon unoffending civilians. It seemed that the 
shadow of Home Rule, won by the Irish Parliamentary 
Party after so many years of effort and after so many millions 
of dollars had been voluntarily contributed by the Irish 
people throughout the world, was certain to go into effect 
and that with it the country was to be torn by fratricidal 
strife to serve the interests and the bigotry of a few British 
landlords. It was at this period that the Tories chose to play 
the last card they possessed. 

From about the time of Queen Anne the King's Veto had 
been one of the least interesting curios of the Constitutional 
Museum in Britain. There was a time when the British 
monarch had the power to veto, of his own will, any Act of 
Parliament that did not exactly meet with his approval. For 
centuries that power had been a dead letter, and the position 
of the monarch had been reduced to that of a laced and uni- 
formed figure-head, ornamental perhaps but useless. The 
British monarch was not allowed to make a speech which was 
not written for him by his Prime Minister, and, in the case 



102 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

of King George V, the Royal Person was especially well taken 
care of by his Cabinet. According to the established rule 
of British political procedure, even the name of the King could 
not be mentioned in the same breath as a party issue, it 
being the tradition that the King owed allegiance to no party, 
but did as he was told and collected his salary. As to George 
V attempting to exercise a Royal Veto over an Act which 
had been passed three times by the elected House of Commons, 
such a suggestion would have been considered insane. 

The Unionist leaders, however, very seriously proposed 
that, as they had been beaten by the Government and the 
electorate in every effort to secure the defeat of the Home 
Rule Bill, King George should refuse to sign it. That the 
greatest pressure was brought to bear on the unfortunate 
figure-head is certain. It has already been pointed out that 
the power behind the opposition to the Home Rule Bill was 
mainly the aristocracy, who drew a handsome sum in rentals 
annually from Ireland, and who feared that some of this 
might be cut off if the Irish people had anything to say in 
the control of their own affairs. In addition to being the 
crowned head of the British Empire, King George was also a 
human being, with frailties somewhat above the average. 
He moved in aristocratic circles, and, when the aristocrats 
began to point out to him the awful prospect they fancied 
confronted them, and mentioned that he had the power to 
prevent the calamity, the King was naturally moved. That 
this emotion was accentuated, rather than relieved, when 
mention was actually made of the possibilitj^ of a boycott of 
his Court by the Lords and Ladies of the land, is also a reason- 
able supposition. In any case, the fact remains that the King 
postponed signing the Act on the day appointed, thereby con- 
firming the last lingering doubts of the Irish people that 
trouble of the worst kind was at hand. 

Throughout the country the bitterest resentment was 
expressed; the men flocked to the banner of the Irish Volun- 
teers, the leaders of whom seemed to be the only ones who 
had the real national interests of the nation at heart. Red- 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 103 

mond had agreed to the partition of the country; Carson 
was breathing fire and brimstone, and his men were well 
drilled and well armed; the policy of *'No Rifles" had been 
carried to the fullest extreme by the Parliamentarian leaders 
of the rapidly dwindling National Volunteers; the Liberals 
had gone to the limit of concessions with Carson, and had 
allowed the Curragh mutineers and the murderers of the 
King's Own Scottish Borderers to go unpunished; and finally 
King George had decided that he could not at the time place 
his royal signature at the foot of the poor measure of self- 
government that had escaped the muddle and mismanage- 
ment of two years of talk. There seemed nothing left that 
offered hope but the policy of the men who had never com- 
promised; who had always been on the side of Ireland a 
Nation, One and Indivisible; who had never acknowledged 
the right of an alien people to make laws for the Irish, and 
who were now prepared to oppose force with force. 

And then, like a bolt out of a clear sky. Great Britain 
became involved in war with Germany. 



CHAPTER XVI 

Under which Flag? 

FOR a decade and a half there had been talk of war 
between Great Britain and Germany. During the 
second Boer war the question of possible German 
intervention on behalf of the two South African Republics 
had been persistent, and the grimmest threats were circulated 
in England as to the fate that awaited Germany if anything 
of the kind was attempted. During the Liberal administra- 
tion which followed, and which was still in office when war 
was declared, the Unionist newspapers were never weary of 
attacking the Government on the ground that they were 
cutting down the naval and military estimates at a time when 
every day brought nearer the outbreak of war with the Ger- 
man Empire. During the "silly season," when the papers 
were short of '*copy," scare stories became a popular pastime, 
retailing the most startling stories of midnight visits of Ger- 
man Zeppelins over the coastal towns of England; and 
German plots and German plans for the sudden descent on 
the ** tight little island'* were being discovered at the rate 
of at least one per week. In spite of all this, the Liberal 
Government professed the most absolute contempt for the 
machinations of the Kaiser, declaring that, whenever Germany 
wanted war, the British Empire was ready to accept the 
challenge. Meanwhile, the policy initiated under Edward VII 
was continued by Sir Edward Grey, and Germany was en- 
circled by a ring of enemies united in defensive and offen- 
sive alliances so that the German Government could watch 
the steady progress of a plot for the eventual destruction of 
their country and its interests. 

It is not within the province of this history to apportion 
the blame for, or to trace the causes of, the world-wide 



THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 105 

conflict which burst into flame towards the end of July and 
in the opening days of August, 1914. The question of impor- 
tance here is the part that Ireland played in that conflict. 
Immediately on the outbreak of the war, the claim was made 
on Ireland that she should bear her share in the war, that she 
should send her sons to the army, and should do her utmost 
in crushing the enemies of the British Empire. That she 
did not respond to this call, there is not the slightest doubt, 
and it is but fitting that the pros and cons of the case be now 
taken into consideration. 

In the first place, what were the arguments advanced by 
the British to induce the Irish to take up arms against 
Germany? It was stated that the Irish should spring to 
arms in defense of the Empire, because Ireland was an integral 
part of that Empire; that the fortunes of Ireland were inti- 
mately bound up with those of the British Empire, and that, 
with the downfall of that Empire, Ireland also would be 
trampled into the dust. "Defend the Mother Country," 
was the appeal; "the Germans are your enemies as much as 
they are our enemies; the Irish are the finest fighters in the 
world, and now is the time to show your valor." A common 
race, a common cause, a common community of interests — 
all of these were urged as reasons why Ireland should forget 
her age-long grievances and throw herself heart and soul into 
the conflict. 

There were other arguments advanced. It was stated that 
Ireland, as a matter of gratitude for the passing of the Home 
Rule Bill, owed to England every man that could shoulder a 
musket. The superhuman efforts made by the Liberals to 
redress the grievances of Ireland, which have been detailed 
in previous chapters, the steadfast manner in which they had 
fought the battle for the Irish against the forces of the 
Unionists — these and a thousand other matters were brought 
into the limelight, and added to the appeal made by the 
Empire to the little impoverished nation of four and a half 
million souls, that lay across the Irish Channel. 

And then there were other reasons. It was stated that 



106 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

the Germans, if they should conquer England, would make 
slaves of the Irish, would make them speak German, and 
would absorb them into her terrible military machine, which 
would crush out all the fine spirit of nationality that had 
been so distinguishing a feature of the Irish character for 
centuries past. Unmentionable atrocities of the Germans in 
their advance through Belgium were pointed to also — the 
outrages committed upon harmless priests and nuns, the 
shelling of Catholic churches, and much more to the same 
effect. There were so many sound and wholesome argu- 
ments, said the British apologists, why Ireland should kill all 
the Germans in sight, that no reasonable Irishman had any 
alternative but to don the British khaki and place himself at 
the disposal of His Majesty the King. In view of all this, 
it might seem surprising that the Irish failed to respond. 
What were their reasons .^^ 

That Ireland was an integral portion of the British Empire, 
that there was a common bond of sympathy and nationhood 
between Ireland and England, was denied, and denied in a 
manner that left no room for doubt. The appeal in- this 
regard fell on deaf ears. The Milesian Gael had nothing in 
common with the Anglo-Saxon-Danish-Norman-Dutch Eng- 
lishman. In culture, civilization, religion, language, moral 
and ethical codes, there were no ties between Irish and 
English. The only ethnological relationship betw^een the two 
peoples was the fact that both were members of the genus 
homo, and the actions of the British in Ireland had at times 
made it appear as if the British held even this relationship 
in some considerable doubt. The keenly imaginative, poeti- 
cal, vivacious Irishman had nothing in common with the 
phlegmatic, commercialized, and dull-witted Englishman. The 
appeal to racial relationship, therefore, was in vain. 

That the Germans were common enemies of Ireland as well 
as of the British Empire, was another argument that needed 
little to explode it. Of all the peoples of the earth, the 
English were the only nation with whom the Irish had been 
at war. The French had always been friendly to Ireland; 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 107 

of the Russians the Irish knew only that they had bitterly 
and brutally oppressed the Poles and the Jews; of the Ger- 
mans they knew that they were pioneers in literature, science, 
art, and the study of social welfare; of the British they knew 
that they had oppressed the Irish for seven hundred years. 
There were more bonds of sympathy between the Irish and 
the Germans than between the Irish and the British. The 
Germans had done much to encourage the revival of the 
Irish language; Professor Kuno Meyer, a German, was one 
of the most learned Gaelic scholars in the world. Many 
Irish parents sent their children to German educational 
establishments; few of them were sent to the colleges and 
universities of England. The British had been the hereditary 
enemies of the Irish race, while the Germans had always been 
sympathetic, at least on the surface, to the cause of Irish 
freedom. 

As to the forgetting of Irish grievances, this was an appeal 
that was becoming tiresome in its monotony. Before Ireland 
could be asked to forgive and forget, some evidence of Eng- 
land's regret for the outrages committed and of her desire 
to make restitution should certainly be forthcoming. The 
fact that the officers responsible for the Massacre of Bachelor's 
Walk had gone unpunished proved that England refused to 
acknowledge herself at fault. *'The leopard cannot change 
its spots," said the Irish people, "and England is still the 
mother of murders and outrages to-day, as she was in the 
days that have passed." It was one thing to forgive the in- 
juries of the past; it was another to forgive unrepented 
murders which still reddened the stones of the streets of 
Dublin. The Irish might be generous almost to a fault, and 
unmindful of their own interests, but their passions were warm 
and not to be subdued by the weak excuses of a bully in 
distress, and it was in this light that the Irish looked upon 
Great Britain. 

That the Liberals had stood steadfast to their determination 
to pass the so-called Home Rule Bill might be admitted with 
some qualifications; that the Empire had thereby earned the 



108 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

gratitude of the Irish people was a typical specimen of the 
Englishman's lack of humor. Ireland asked for justice, not 
for favors. The Home Rule Bill, as has been amply demon- 
strated, was a half-hearted measure at the best, designed 
mainly as a payment for the support Mr. Redmond and 
his colleagues had given the Liberals in the House of Com- 
mons. By no stretch of the imagination could it be termed 
a just or final settlement of Ireland's demands to manage her 
own affairs. That Ireland owed a debt of gratitude to 
England for this measure was never even seriously con- 
sidered in Ireland. What had Britain done to repay the 
Irish for the years of misery that had followed the British 
occupation centuries before .f* What had the Empire done to 
repay Ireland for thousands of murdered sons and daughters, 
for fertile fields devastated and homesteads rendered desolate? 
What had the Empire done to repay Ireland for her wrecked 
industries, for her martyred patriots, for her population cut 
in half in fifty years? Surely Ireland owed no debt of grati- 
tude to Britain for the Home Rule Bill that had been reduced 
to the irreducible minimum, which had brought the country 
to the verge of civil war, and had been bitterly assailed by 
one-half of the British people. 

The English said that Ireland would have to stand or fall 
with the British Empire. Irish history did not bear out this 
interested contention on the part of the British. Ireland had 
been able before to hold her own against the world, and there 
was no logical reason why she should not do the same again. 
There were many other small nationalities in Europe that 
held their independence; why not Ireland? With a crushed 
and fallen foe on her eastern frontier and the entire stretch of 
the vast Atlantic washing her western shores, there was more 
reason for Ireland being independent than Holland, Sweden, 
Denmark, Switzerland, and others of the small nations of 
Europe, who were more closely surrounded by giant powers 
and mighty armies that had only to walk over the frontier 
to the attack. With the gaining of independence, it was also 
pointed out, the population of the country would naturally 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 109 

increase with the return of many of the exiles. And the 
revival of industries and national institutions would bring 
with it a growing sense of power, and lay the foundation for 
the establishment of national forces for the defense of the 
country. All these things had been pointed out to the Irish 
people by the Sinn Feiners, and there was no dread, but only 
a pious hope, that England might be placed in a position to 
prove the fallacy of her own arguments when she said that 
her downfall would mean the end of Ireland's hope of becom- 
ing a self-governing nation. Her hopes of becoming so under 
England had just been blasted. 

Even should the worst come to the worst, it was felt, and 
not without reason, that the Germans could scarcely do more 
to crush out the spirit of Irish nationality than had already 
been tried by the English. The Germans, even were they 
the devils incarnate the English pictured them to be, could 
hardly do more than Cromwell had done, could devastate the 
country in no more thorough and painstaking a way than 
the British had done in their philanthropic and civilizing 
administration of the country. It was felt that the practical 
Germans would at least develop the industries of the country, 
would put into operation again the idle mills and mines, and 
restore at least some prosperity to the land. It was also felt 
that the Germans and the Irish could work hand and hand 
together for the development of Ireland, and that both would 
be the gainers thereby. In addition, and most important of 
all, it was believed that the Germans were as friendly disposed 
towards the Irish as the Irish were towards them, and that 
the arrival of the Germans would mean the dawn of inde- 
pendence for the nation. 

The stories of German atrocities and outrages on priests 
and nuns were accepted in Ireland with frank distrust. The 
sudden regard of the English for priests and nuns was a 
novelty to the Irish people, who knew how lovingly the land 
of Elizabeth and Cromwell regarded the officials of the Cath- 
olic Church. The pages of Irish history were reddened with 
the blood of hosts of Irish priests and nuns, slain and outraged 



110 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

by English soldiers. England's habit of accusing her enemies 
of every vile and filthy crime was also but too well known 
and understood in Ireland to have much effect, for had it not 
been an immemorial practice of England to defame Ireland 
before the world? In fact, it is possible that these allegations 
did as much as anything else to induce the Irish to sym- 
pathize with Germany, which would, they knew, be now 
subjected to a malicious slander, tempered by no sense of 
justice or shame. As the English were using the self -same 
methods against the Germans that they had used on previous 
occasions to besmirch the character of the Irish nation in the 
eyes of the world, tales of alleged atrocities thus left Ireland 
unmoved. 

Finally, the British plea that England was going to war in 
defense of the integrity of small nations was so fraught with 
hypocrisy that it served as a final and convincing proof that 
British insincerity had not outlived its best traditions. In- 
stead of spending so much time and energy in attempting to 
argue the Irish people into taking sides with the Empire, the 
English would possibly have achieved better results had they 
proved their sincerity by granting a moiety of justice to the 
small nation beside them. Had they been sincere, they 
would have put the Home Rule Act into operation immedi- 
ately, and have cut out all talk of the partition of the country. 
They would have done everything that lay in their power to 
show to the Irish people that they were anxious and willing 
to make amends for the past; that they were willing, as well 
as able, to put the Irishman on an equality with the English- 
man, the Scotsman, and the Welshman, and to trust to the 
generosity of the people to assist them. Instead of doing 
these things, they held up the Home Rule Act; allowed (as 
will be shown) Englishmen to stay at home, while they sent 
the Irish regiments to the front and appealed for recruits; 
asked the Irish to pay in advance for something they might 
or might not get when the war was over and after the man- 
hood of Ireland had been sacrificed in a quarrel in which the 
Irish had no part. In short, England acted in a manner that 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 111 

served but to create mistrust, suspicion, and even hatred in 
the breasts of the Irish people. 

For these and many other reasons the men of Ireland did 
not espouse England's cause, and did not feel any inclination 
to join hands with the King's Own Scottish Murderers (as 
they were called in Dublin) and their comrades-in-arms. In 
the early part of the war persistent attempts were made to 
represent the Irish people as practically unanimous in its 
sympathy with England's cause. Ridiculous statements were 
made even by Irish Parliamentary leaders as to the hundreds 
of thousands of Irishmen who flocked to the assistance of the 
Empire. These statements have been since proved to be 
absolutely untrue by the publication of the official figures for 
recruiting in Ireland. Irishmen refused to flock to England's 
banner, notwithstanding the blandishments of John Redmond 
and his colleagues, who urged them to make good "the 
wastage in Flanders!" 



CHAPTER XVII 

The Recruiting Sergeant 

IT is not uncharitable to suppose that the outbreak of 
the European War was looked on by at least some of 
the politicians in Great Britain as a God-sent deliverance 
from their troubles. So far as the protagonists in the Irish 
situation were concerned, it could scarcely have happened at 
a more opportune moment. As a matter of fact, there were 
not a few who insisted that one of the reasons that prompted 
Germany to her declaration of war on Russia was the tangled 
political situation in England and the near prospect of civil 
war in Ireland. While there may, on the surface, be a great 
deal to support this view, it seems rather remarkable that the 
German diplomatists — if, indeed, they wanted war at all — 
did not stave off the conflict until the opening of hostilities in 
Ireland. If the supposition be correct, it shows a remarkable 
shortsightedness on the part of men who have since been 
lauded — and condemned — for the manner in which they 
read the secrets of the future and made their preparations 
accordingly. 

That Ireland was on the verge of one of the vital crises in 
her history seems fairly certain. That the war brought an 
apparent truce in that crisis is also to be admitted. As the 
following chapters will show, however, the truce was more 
on the surface than actual, and was entered into rather by 
the professional poUtician than by the people of Ireland. 

The situation created in Ireland owing to the landing of 
the arms for the Volunteers and the shootings at Bachelor's 
Walk impressed these same politicians, however, with a 
feeling that something must be done to secure for the British 
Empire the "loyalty" of the Irish people. The question of 
the Royal Assent to the Government of Ireland Bill, therefore. 



THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 113 

became a matter of even more than usual importance. Mr. 
Redmond assured the Cabinet leaders that, if the Bill were 
once signed by King George, all would be well, and the men 
of Ireland would enthusiastically rush to the colors from 
every province. Even at this crisis in the affairs of the 
Empire, the Tories continued to state that they had no 
compromise to make, that they would never submit to the 
dictation of a Parliament in Dublin, and that they would 
prefer to join hands with the Kaiser — at that time the open 
and avowed enemy of Britain — rather than agree to the 
enactment of the Home Rule Bill. 

What was to be done.? To those who know the character 
of the British, as revealed in their own record, the answer is 
obvious. When in a difficulty, the one alternative that 
presents itself to the British mind is "coerce or compromise." 
That the British should seek to coerce the Orangemen would 
be unthinkable. The Orangemen had defied the British, they 
had arms in their hands, and besides they had behind them 
the most powerful moneyed interests in Britain, without which 
the war could not be financed, and without which even King 
George might find it difficult to secure his monthly pay 
envelope. As coercion was impossible, therefore, the only 
thing to do was to compromise, or, in other words, to delude 
the Irish people by another set of empty promises, and trust 
to luck for the reckoning when the time for fulfillment came. 

Meanwhile John Redmond and Sir Edward Carson, the 
supposed deadly enemies, met on the Terrace at Westminster 
and decided that for the time the enactment of the Home 
Rule Bill was out of the question. That this was a disap- 
pointment to Mr. Redmond is quite possible, owing to the 
ambition he was said to entertain of seeing himself installed 
as the Premier of Ireland. A touching scene was staged in 
the House of Commons at Westminster a few days after the 
outbreak of the war, when both Sir Edward Carson and Mr. 
Redmond informed the assembly and the world that Ireland 
was not going to desert the Empire in its hour of need. 
Each gentleman felicitated the other upon his patriotism, and 



114 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

each assured the other and the world that Ireland, north and 
south, was united against "the Huns.'* There were cheers 
from all sides of the house, and the Mother of Parliaments 
allowed herself to relax into a genteel smile. In the case of 
the majority of the members, this smile must have been at 
the supposed simplicity of the poor Irish. 

To appreciate the irony of the situation from the stand- 
point of thinking Irishmen, it must be remembered the Irish 
people had voluntarily taxed themselves for over thirty years 
to keep the Irish Party in London to promote the interests of 
Ireland, not those of the Empire. To defeat Irish interests, 
Carson had just raised an army, and by threatening rebellion 
had dashed to the ground the hopes of a generation. Carson 
represented the disturbing element — the element which 
professed love for the Empire; Redmond represented the 
injured party, which had never had the remotest reason for 
being concerned as to the Empire's fate. The crudest com- 
mon sense dictated that Redmond should let Carson and the 
British Government find a solution for the quandary in which 
the violence of the one and the weakness of the other had 
placed them. Had Redmond even chosen to remain inactive, 
he might have been forgiven. But, claiming still to represent 
the Irish nation — a nation which, with many faults, scarcely 
deserved to be represented by a simpering sentimentalist at a 
most critical moment of its history — he rushes into the 
arms of those who have openly insulted and rebuffed him, 
makes peace when only he had anything to pardon, and 
declared by his action that to the Irish people their century- 
long oppression and even the life-blood of their kindred still 
dyeing the streets of Dublin was nothing compared with the 
Empire. 

Then Mr. Redmond made a noteworthy statement. He 
said: "The coast of Ireland will be defended from foreign 
invasion by her armed sons, and for this purpose armed 
Nationalist Catholics in the South will be only too glad to 
join arms with the armed Protestant Ulstermen of the 
North." Mr. Redmond added a suggestion that every British 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 115 

soldier in Ireland might safely be sent to the front in Bel- 
gium or elsewhere, as Ireland would hold its boundaries against 
the Germans. Then the polite Parliament smiled again, and 
decided not to do anything of the kind. The British had a 
much better occupation in mind for the Irish soldiers than 
guarding their own frontiers. 

Premier Asquith and Mr. Redmond held a number of 
informal talks over the matter. One thing Redmond insisted 
on, as being necessary to save his own face — the signing of 
his Home Rule Bill. He said that the Irish people could not 
be trifled with any longer; at least, something new must be 
devised, if trouble were to be averted. On the other hand, 
the Premier declared that the one thing essential was, that 
the men of Ireland should add their strength to the British 
army. A compromise on these two points was arrived at, 
and the worst betrayal in Irish history consummated. 

In accordance with this arrangement Mr. Asquith, on Sep- 
tember 15, introduced into the House of Commons a Suspen- 
sory Bill whereby the Home Rule Bill was suspended from 
operation until one year from the passing of the Act, or 
"until such later date (not being later than the end of the 
present war) as may be fixed by His Majesty by Order in 
Council." In connection with these proposals, Mr. Asquith 
gave two "solemn pledges": first, that "the Home Rule Bill 
will not and cannot come into operation until Parliament has 
had the fullest opportunity by means of an Amending Bill of 
altering, modifying, or qualifying its provisions in such a way 
as to secure at any rate the general consent both of Ireland 
and the United Kingdom"; and secondly, that "the employ- 
ment of force of any kind for what you call the coercion of 
Ulster is an absolutely unthinkable thing." The Suspensory 
Bill and the Home Rule Bill received the signature of George V, 
and another stage in the farce was completed. 

The effect of the first proviso was easy to understand, and 
all the eloquence of the Irish Party was unavailing to hide 
its true nature. It meant that, while the Home Rule Act 
was now on the statute book, no Irish Parliament was to be 



116 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

established, and the Irish people were to remain under exactly 
the same conditions as before, until such time as the war was 
over; then the Act would be once more placed at the mercy 
of whatever majority ruled in the British House of Commons, 
and it was extremely problematical whether the Liberals 
would have a majority or not. In the very probable event of 
the Unionists being returned to power, there was no possible 
doubt but that the Tories would so "amend" the Act as to 
make it worse than useless. It must not be forgotten that 
the Irish people were intensely dissatisfied with the Home 
Rule Bill even as it stood, and the prospect of a further 
series of mutilations destroyed all interest whatever in the 
measure. 

Nor did the Unionists make any secret of their intentions 
with regard to the Act. Sir Edward Carson denounced the 
action of Premier Asquith as *' unparalleled treachery," while 
other Tory leaders took open comfort in the reflection that, 
when the time came for the Amending Bill, they would be in 
power and would see that the Home Rule Act was amended 
out of existence. Nevertheless, the order went forth from 
the Irish Party for demonstrations of joy in Ireland at the 
"victory." The Irish people had some good sense left, and 
reserved their energy for a more practical declaration of their 
sentiments. 

With the royal signature, however, the time had come for 
Mr. Redmond to pay the price of "victory." He had made 
a definite contract with the British Government, and he now 
hastened to fulfill it. The ink was scarcely dry on the royal 
signature when Mr. Redmond, supported by his party, 
assumed the duties of a recruiting sergeant, and announced 
that England expected every Irishman to do his duty. A 
meeting was held by the members of the Party and Premier 
Asquith in the Mansion House, Dublin, behind closed doors 
and guarded by the police and the military. At this meeting 
Mr. Redmond called on the men of Ireland to join the army 
and blaze a trail to victory for the British Empire. This was 
within a month of the day when the King's Own Scottish 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 117 

Borderers had sent their leaden messengers of death into the 
bodies of Irish men, women, and children on Bachelor's 
Walk. 

Is there any room for wonder that the men of Ireland did 
not respond to the call to arms? They were told by Mr. 
Redmond that the Home Rule Act was now an accomplished 
fact; that they had won all for which they had hoped and 
striven for centuries. It was now their duty to go into the 
trenches and offer themselves as food for German guns. 
They owed this to the benevolent Empire that had at last 
restored their freedom. They were not told that this price 
was demanded in advance; that the freedom of Ireland was 
far from guaranteed under the Home Rule Act. The im- 
partial historian of the future will undoubtedly classify as 
unrivaled effrontery the assumption of the British ministers 
and a venal Irish Party that the Irish people could not 
distinguish between fact and fallacy. It came as a shock to 
both ministers and Party to discover that there were Irishmen 
who demanded why the Home Rule Act had not been put 
into immediate operation, and declared it was time enough to 
talk of blood-toll when England had given practical evidence 
of her sincerity in dealing with Ireland. Mr. Redmond 
characterized such talk as the "basest ingratitude," and, when 
a reference was made to the Massacre of Bachelor's Walk, 
retorted that "this was not the time for the discussion of 
academic questions." 

Mr. Redmond went ahead with his programme with a 
pertinacity and resourcefulness that would have won him 
distinction in a nobler cause. By means of speeches made in 
the House of Commons and throughout England, of "state- 
ments" issued to the press, and of a widespread campaign in 
the newspapers of Ireland, England, and the United States, he 
made it appear that the men of Ireland were filled with 
eagerness to fight for the Empire. In the Commons the 
Tories laughed at the figures he produced, and demanded 
that he prove his assertions. Again and again he stated that 
from 200,000 to 250,000 Irishmen had joined the British army 



118 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

since the outbreak of the war, but never produced any 
reliable proof of his statement. 

The fact remained, however, that the one big object of the 
recruiting campaign failed. Had Redmond succeeded in 
inducing the Irish Volunteers to join the army, the British 
would have killed two birds with the one stone. They would 
have added some excellent fighting material to their army, 
and they would have removed from Ireland the one menace 
that confronted them there — the armed and drilled Volun- 
teers, who were never under the domination of Mr. Redmond 
and his Party. Ireland was well aware of the trick con- 
templated. It was quite obvious that, as soon as the Volun- 
teers were safely out of the way, the British could do whatever 
they pleased with impunity. The plan was too obvious to 
succeed. The men of Ireland refused to enlist, and, out of 
440,000 men of military age in the country, less than 20,000 
answered the call of "King and Empire," eloquently pleaded 
by Mr. Redmond. 

The British Government was not satisfied with Mr. Red- 
mond's success. To lead the people of America into thinking 
that Ireland was "loyal" was not enough; it was essential 
that the men of Ireland should be induced to don the British 
uniform. There was opposition of the strongest possible 
character to this course from a hundred centers in Ireland, 
and this had to be overcome. The British Government 
thereupon decided that it was time to initiate another of 
those periodic reigns of terror that had come to be looked 
upon as an essential part of the English government of the 
Irish people. Coercion was to be used in Ireland, as it was 
later used in Greece — in both cases in absolute defiance of 
the first rights of every nation to put self-preservation above 
the interests or even the rights of a foreign power. 



CHAPTER XVIII 

Fuel to the Flames 

ONE of the first acts of the British Government follow- 
ing the declaration of war on Germany was the 
suppression of two of the papers published in Dublin 
that had always openly voiced their opinions regarding the 
English policy in Ireland. The first to come under the ban 
was Sinn Fein, edited by Arthur Griffith, and this was 
followed immediately by the suppression of Irish Freedom, 
edited by Thomas Clarke and Sean MacDermott. These 
papers had attacked the lies that were being circulated by 
the Recruiters in Ireland, and had been outspoken in their 
statements regarding the position that Ireland occupied in 
regard to the war. 

It may be said that the suppression of these papers was 
most natural; that the same would have been done in Ger- 
many or in France under identical circumstances. This is 
no justification for depriving a nation of the advice and guid- 
ance of her most gifted and sincerest sons at a moment when 
her life and her whole future depended on her decision. 
When Nietzsche openly defends the right of the strong to 
trample on the weak we may respect his honesty, if not his 
judgment. But when professed champions of liberty in Eng- 
land or elsewhere deny to any nation or people the right to 
put self-preservation first, their honesty (rather than their 
judgment) falls under suspicion. If England really fought the 
battle of civilization, neutrals who had profited most by this 
"civilization" should have taken their place in the battle 
van, before venturing to criticise Ireland for "disloyalty" to a 
system which has been her curse. 

The last copy of Sinn Fein was published on November 14, 
1914. Hints had already been given the editor that the end 



no HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

of his paper was in sight, and an editorial article contained in 
the last issue puts the matter in a nutshell. It was then 
believed that the editor was to be prosecuted, and he defied 
the Government to do this. They retorted by suppressing 
the paper, seizing and smashing the plant, and destroying the 
offices. As an indication of the situation in Ireland at this 
time (a few weeks after the outbreak of the war), and on 
account of its historic value, I quote the editorial from this 
last issue: 

The London "Times'* announces that the British Government 
inclines to prosecute the national press. So be it. If it prosecutes 
us without packing the jury, we win; if it prosecutes us and packs 
the jury, we win. No unpacked Irish jury will brand felon on the 
brow of those who have stood between the youth of Ireland and the 
plot to immolate them in England's interest, and as to the verdict 
of a packed jury, all Ireland — Unionist Ireland and Nationalist 
Ireland alike — will know in the day of trial that the criminals are 
not in the dock, but in the jury box. The verdict they render will 
be a verdict in every honest man's mind against British government 
in Ireland. For weeks past this government has surreptitiously 
sought to prevent the circulation of "Sinn Fein," and it has failed. 
In England its police has seized this journal and intimidated the news- 
agents. In Wexford it has imprisoned a man for circulating a reprint 
of an article that appeared in our columns. Through the heads of 
the Ancient Order of Hibernians (Board of Erin), whom it bribes 
with patronage — even the patronage of promotion in the R. I. C, 
and the Dublin Metropolitan Police and Detective Departments — 
it has essayed to obstruct the circulation of "Sinn Fein" in the 
provinces, and in its Post OflBce it has destroyed, delayed and with- 
held copies of "Sinn Fein" by the hundred. This is the Govern- 
ment — this is the organized hypocrisy that declaims to the world 
on the Freedom of the Press and Fair Dealing. 

Be it known that the crime of the national Press against England 
is its exhortation to the manhood of this country — of which England 
has in half a century extirpated one moiety — not to permit itself, 
through ignorance, through deceit, or through intimidation to be 
emigrated to preserve the extirpators. That crime we have com- 
mitted, and that crime we shall continue to commit so long as 
England asserts her usurped right to govern this country. And 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 121 

whatever may happen to the Press England fears in this country 
and to its conductors, this we know — that the body and soul of 
Ireland has been saved. . . . 

We have a postscript. Last week a man, after a public trial by 
court martial in London, was, without public sentence, secretly 
executed, and the newspapers forbidden by the Press Bureau to 
refer to the fact. On Wednesday they were permitted to mention it, 
because the British Parliament was opening, and it was feared certain 
members would arraign the policy of secret execution. The man 
was convicted as a spy, and his execution under the law was justi- 
fied. It is not the execution, but the manner of the execution that 
forms a menace to every man. In a country where a man can be 
secretly sentenced to death, secretly shot, and the Press muzzled, 
there is no longer security for the innocent. Let it be known, there- 
fore, that if any Nationalist journalist in the hands of England 
happens to disappear, he will not have disappeared either through 
heart trouble or any disease whatsoever except the disease that has 
afflicted Ireland since 1801. 

Eighteen months later the cold-blooded murder of Francis 
Sheehy-Skeffington in Dublin was a sinister confirmation of 
this warning, and Skeffington was not the only one. 

With the disappearance of Irish Freedom, the organ of the 
Clann-na-Gael, Sinn Fein, The Cork Celt, and others that 
were opposed to the recruiting policy, the British Government 
believed it had solved at least one aspect of the problem. 
But they found they had later to suppress the Irish Worker 
(edited by James Connolly), the organ of the workingmen of 
Ireland, which also came out against the campaign to send 
the men of Ireland to fight in France. 

The work of the censor, however, had but begun. Arthur 
Griffith immediately brought out another paper, this time on 
a rather ingenious plan. There was no editorial comment 
in the new publication, Scissors and Paste, which consisted 
entirely of extracts reprinted from English newspapers. 
These extracts were chosen with great care, and were reprinted 
just as they stood, the readers of the paper being left to draw 
their own conclusions. Even this repetition of what their 
own papers had printed angered the English, and after a 



122 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

short rim, in which it gained daily in popularity, Scissors 
and Paste was also confiscated. 

But one paper followed another. The Irish Worker was 
followed by the Workers' RepubliCy Freedom by Ireland, 
and these again by The Sparky Honesty, The Gael, and a 
score of others, all bearing the same message and all sup- 
pressed after the first few issues. The Gaelic AthletCy a 
paper devoted to Irish sports, was also suppressed for advising 
young Irishmen not to join the British army. Ireland's 
tongue was to be torn out before she was dragged into the 
arena to fight, — not indeed for the amusement, but for 
the selfish interests of a tyrant. 

The suppression of the Irish papers, however, was not the 
only method employed by the British Government to silence 
the Irish people. To give the authorities greater freedom to 
deal with the situation, a special "Defense of the Realm Act" 
was passed, under which the Government possessed practically 
unlimited authority over the Irish people. With the passage 
of this Act another reign of persecution and coercion set in. 
An epidemic of arrests broke out all over the country. Men 
and boys were arrested on the most trivial of charges, and 
allowed to remain days and weeks in jail without knowing 
with what they were charged. Men who were known not to 
sympathize with the Government were batoned by the police 
in broad daylight, insulted by the military, and often found 
unconscious and bleeding in a dark alley or lane in the early 
hours of the morning. 

Worse than this, the military, never a respecter of either 
age or sex in Ireland, adopted an attitude towards Irish girls 
and women that added possibly more than anything else to 
the rising tide of revolt. While the recruiting sergeants of 
the Irish Parliamentary Party were filling the pages of the 
newspapers they controlled with the most blood-curdling 
stories of German atrocities on nuns and priests, the English 
soldiers in Ireland were providing instances in plenty of the 
peculiar refinement of English culture as contrasted with that 
of the "Huns'* of Central Europe. Women were found 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 123 

"drowned" in the Liffey, and there was neither publicity 
given to the fact nor inquiry following it. Women were 
grossly insulted on the streets of the cities by the armed 
garrison of England. Girls were found dead and mutilated at 
the very gates of Portobello Barracks, but there was no 
inquiry. Girls were found dead within a stone's throw of the 
constabulary barracks in the Phoenix Park, but the matter 
was hushed up. In one instance, a dead girl, found along 
the bank of the Royal Canal at Phibsboro, was clutching a 
khaki belt in her dead hand, but Mr. Redmond demanded no 
inquiry into the circumstances of her death. The Redmondite 
Press were silent as to these facts, because they feared that 
it might stop recruiting! In the last week of August, 1915, 
two little nursemaids, aged 15 and 16 years respectively, in 
charge of soldiers' families in Dublin, brought charges against 
their masters of indecent assault and rape. There was medical 
evidence in support of the girls' stories, but the charges were 
dismissed. The testimony of the soldier in each case out- 
weighed that of the girl. The girls were not Belgians, but 
mere Irish, and therefore fit victims for the apostles of British 
civilization. In spite of every effort on the part of the 
Government these cases, and hundreds of a similar character, 
came to the knowledge of the people, with a result that can be 
imagined. 

Many volumes would be required to enumerate all the 
instances of savage persecution under the Defense of the 
Realm Act. Men were thrown into jail for speaking in 
Irish, it being the contention of the authorities that they 
might be saying seditious things in a language not understood 
by the police; men were sentenced to terms of imprisonment 
for conversations overheard in the street, in which remarks 
were passed that seemed to be out of sympathy with the 
recruiting campaign. The common charge throughout the 
country was that of "using words likely to prejudice recruit- 
ing," and it was only necessary to bring a charge to secure a 
conviction. Naturally, this method led to an aggravation of 
the trouble. Recruiting posters were torn down in every 



124 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

village and town in Ireland; the soldiers were hissed in the 
streets; men got up at the street corners and made speeches 
denouncing the Government and the Defense of the Realm 
Act in scathing language. The prosecutions became more 
vigorous; one speaker after another was arrested and thrown 
into jail; but, where one was taken away, twenty more 
appeared, until the Government found itself brought to a 
halt and uncertain what to do. The one thing certain was, 
that the actions of the military and their treatment of the 
civilian population, especially of the women, and the opera- 
tions of the Defense of the Realm Act had brought recruiting 
to an absolute standstill, and had roused the temper of the 
people to a dangerous pitch. 

That this policy of the Government did more to assist than 
to hamper the propaganda of those who were already em- 
bittered against England is incontrovertible. It is also 
certain that the Government became alarmed at the situation 
it had itself created. After the lessons of centuries it seems 
unbelievable that the representatives of the British had not 
learned that coercion was the worst possible policy to intro- 
duce in Ireland. Past history had shown that coercion only 
stiffened the backs of the Irish people, and made them more 
bitter against England and more determined to overthrow her 
tyrannical government. Day by day the strength of the 
Irish Volunteers increased, and that of the small fraction which 
still followed the leadership of John Redmond decreased. 
Recruiting in Ireland for the British forces, never successful, 
now entirely ceased. The anti-recruiting movement had 
become nation wide. The arrests of the men who were leading 
it spurred others to take up the work. The suppressed 
papers reappeared again, changed only in name. The 
women joined hands with the men in their fight against the 
Empire, and the drilling and arming of the Volunteers went on 
apace. To the eyes of all who wished to see, the situation 
was charged with the electricity that forboded a storm, but 
there were those who would not see. The evidence given at 
the inquiry held after the Rebellion to inquire into its causes 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 125 

revealed the fact that the authorities learned too late of the 
results of the actions of the Government. When they tried 
to grapple with the position, they found it had already gone 
beyond their reach. 

Meanwhile John Redmond, T. P. O'Connor, John Dillon, 
and Joseph Devlin, the leaders of the "Irish" Party in 
Parliament, continued to tell the American people through 
the American newspapers of the quiet, '* loyal," and contented 
condition of the people of Ireland, and of the thousands of 
Irish recruits who were daily pouring out of the country to 
fill the gaps made in the ranks of Irish regiments in conse- 
quence of the ghastly blunder at the Dardanelles. 



CHAPTER XIX 

The Coalition Cabinet 

WHILE matters were thus assuming a sinister phase 
in Ireland, the British Government had many- 
things to disturb its peace of mind at home. In 
the first place, the war had not gone very favorably. The 
Teutons had proven to be much more difficult to dispose of 
than had been expected. Englishmen who had hoped that 
the enemy would be crushed within a year woke up to a pain- 
ful realization of the unwillingness of the Central Powers to 
be wiped out. Zeppelin raids and naval disasters, with the 
defeats of the Allied armies on every front, had put a painful 
complexion on the whole situation. Things became so bad 
that even English football matches were interfered with, and 
there were ugly rumors of conscription and prohibition of 
the sale of alcoholic beverages. This last-mentioned threat, 
possibly more than any other factor, brought home to the 
English man-in-the-street the fact that the nation was really 
at war, and that the outlook was serious. 

Another disturbing element was the protest in the French 
newspapers that Englishmen were shirking their duty. In 
spite of his proverbial politeness, the Frenchman is nothing 
if not candid. Usually he will express a home truth in 
language that makes even an insult seem complimentary, but 
there are times when he can be outspoken to a degree that 
borders on brutality. Thus, French newspapers printed 
caustic comment on the size of the British army in Belgium 
and France and of the sector which that army defended, 
while one class after another of French conscripts were being 
called to the colors. The French did not hesitate to say 
that this was sound policy (on the surface) for England, as, 
with her men at home, she would be in a better position to 



THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 127 

capture German trade; but neither did they fail to hint, in 
an unmistakable manner, that these facts would not be 
forgotten when the day of settlement dawned. 

These, and many other matters, made it clear that the 
British Government was not in too pleasant a position. The 
newspapers led and controlled by Lord Northcliffe, the Tory 
Peer who had been the strongest supporter of Sir Edward 
Carson and his treasonable practices, accused the Liberal 
Government of being unpractical and inefficient, of playing a 
losing game, and of disgracing the country in the eyes of the 
world. The Government made a few feeble efforts to sup- 
press this criticism, but it could not deal so summarily with 
The Times, The Daily Mail, The Standard, and The Morning 
Post as it had done with Sinn Fein and Irish Freedom. In 
England the liberty of the Press was respected, when the 
proprietors had money and votes in Parliament at their backs. 
Early in 1915 it became apparent that matters were assuming 
a critical aspect. Premier Asquith was openly attacked, and 
Lord Kitchener was accused of gross negligence in the conduct 
of the war. There was nothing to do but compromise. 
Thus, in the early part of May, the Prime Minister announced 
that the Government had decided, in view of the condition 
of affairs, to form a Coalition Cabinet, and to add to the 
Government a number of the leaders of the Tory party. 
. This declaration came as another shock to the Irish people. 
This move on the part of the Liberals seemed not only to be 
a confession of failure on the part of the Liberal administra- 
tion, but also to seal the fate of the Home Rule Act. It 
must not be forgotten that the fate of this Act rested on what 
would be done in the Amending Bill. If, however, the 
Liberals were not in power at the time of the introduction 
of this Bill, there was no possible doubt that the Home Rule 
Act would be amended out of existence. Consequently, the 
significance of Premier Asquith's declaration that he intended 
to form a Cabinet of Liberals and Unionists combined may 
be well appreciated. The Irish people asked themselves, in 
so far as they troubled any longer with the hypocrisies of 



128 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

English politics, what was going to happen at the end of the 
war, and if the formation of a Coalition Cabinet was not but 
paving the way for the return to power of the Unionists. 

Another surprise was, however, forthcoming, when, on May 
25, 1915, the Prime Minister announced the composition of 
his new Cabinet. A number of Liberal Ministers were re- 
moved from the Government, and their places filled by eight 
Unionists. So many of the new members were bigoted 
enemies of all things Irish that it almost seemed as if opposi- 
tion to Ireland was the chief qualification for a place in the 
new Cabinet. There were other capable Tory leaders who 
had not been so strongly identified with the anti-Irish propa- 
ganda, but these were passed over. The men most bitterly 
opposed to Home Rule were selected, and the fact was not 
unnoticed in Ireland. 

There was, however, one selection that made the deepest 
impression on the Irish people. The oflSce of the Attorney- 
General, the highest law office in the gift of the Crown, was 
bestowed on Sir Edward Carson. Carson had formed the 
Ulster Volunteers, had defied the Liberal Government to 
touch him, had transgressed every section of the law of 
treason, had done his utmost to plunge the country into civil 
war, had engineered the gun-running, — in short, had consti- 
tuted himself a monarch in Ulster, and had told the world 
that he would kick the King's Crown into the Boyne if the 
Home Rule Act was put into operation by the legally elected 
representatives of the English people. It was the example 
of Carson that had led the Irish to run the guns into Howth, 
and that incident had resulted, in turn, in the massacre of 
inoffensive Irish civilians. Yet, while the Irish people were 
butchered in the streets of their own capital, Carson, the man 
who was responsible morally for all that had happened, was 
elevated to the Cabinet which he had lately defied. 

Although, in consequence of the actions of the Govern- 
ment, Ireland had long since given up any but the faintest 
hope that the English Government had any sincere intentions 
towards Home Rule, the appointment of Sir Edward Carson 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 129 

still came as a shock. To those men who had never believed 
that the English intended to restore to Ireland any of her 
usurped liberties, the selection of Carson was not unwelcome. 
It gave an added impetus to their campaign, and, as will 
shortly be demonstrated, this campaign had by this time 
reached a stage where it needed little outside assistance. 
Nevertheless, the action of the Government was an added 
proof of the double dealing of the Liberal Government. It 
was a further proof of the game of bluff that was being 
played at the expense of the Irish people. 

Rumors were purposely circulated to the effect that Mr. 
Redmond had been invited to take a portfolio in the Coalition 
Cabinet, but had refused. It is very probable that these 
rumors were circulated to suggest that Redmond had a secret 
understanding with Premier Asquith, according to which the 
Home Rule Act would be put into operation as soon as the 
war was over. Although he lent his name to this attempted 
deception of the Irish people, Mr. Redmond was forced to 
admit at a later date that the Liberal Ministry had neither 
then nor at any other time shown any consideration for his 
wishes. 

There was also another significant feature of the new 
situation. Up to that time Redmond had held the balance 
of power between the two English parties. Had he at any 
time wished to force the hand of the Government and secure 
justice for Ireland, even to the extent of securing the estab- 
lishment of a Home Rule Parliament under the provisions of 
the Home Rule Act, it was within his power to do it by the 
simple expedient of serving an ultimatum upon the Liberals 
to the effect that he would vote against the Government on 
the next party issue and so drive them from office. The fact 
that he did not do this is sufficient evidence that he sanc- 
tioned or condoned all the actions of the British Government 
in Ireland. With the formation of the Coalition Government, 
however, Mr. Redmond lost the balance of power. It was 
obvious that both the Liberal and Tory Parties would vote 
to uphold the decrees of a Cabinet composed of represen- 



130 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

tatives of both sections, and that, therefore, whatever Mr. 
Redmond and his men might decide to do would not be of 
the sUghtest interest to the Government as a whole. Mr. 
Redmond, however, was not dismayed at this turn of events, 
for it meant little to him. For some years he and his party 
had merely been adjuncts of the Liberal Party, and it did 
not matter a great deal for him now to work hand in hand 
with the Tories also. During the years he had held the 
balance of power, he had never made use of it, and it is 
possible that he was happy to be relieved of the responsi- 
bility with which this same power invested him. That he 
was not, however, to be entirely rid of this responsibility, 
was to be demonstrated before many months passed. 

Another significant incident took place shortly after the 
formation of the Coalition Government. The Home Rule 
Act had received the Royal Signature in the preceding 
September, when it had been arranged that the Act was to 
be suspended for twelve months, or until such time as an 
Order in Council might decide. These twelve months had 
now expired, and on September 14, 1915, a special Order in 
Council, reading: 

No steps shall be taken to put the Government of Ireland Act, 
1914, into operation until the expiration of eighteen months from 
the date of the passing of that Act unless the present war has pre- 
viously ended, nor, if at the expiration of these eighteen months 
the present war is not ended, until such later date not being later 
than the end of the present war, as may hereafter be fixed by Order 
in Council. 

The obvious effect of this Order was to make it clear even 
to those who were still doubtful as to English sincerity that 
there was little, if any, intention on the part of the Govern- 
ment of putting the Act into operation without radical altera- 
tion. It mattered little that the Government was merely 
following out the course it had prescribed for itself. If not 
even the appreciation of the vital crisis through which Eng- 
land herself was passing could induce her politicians to adopt 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 131 

a more liberal policy towards Ireland, was there the slightest 
justification for hoping for juster treatment after the war? 
Statesmanship demanded concessions which would have won 
the good-will of the majority of Irishmen, and to some extent 
justified England's claim that she championed small nations. 
If she now voluntarily subjected herself to universal derision 
for her hypocrisy, rather than make these concessions, the 
conclusion was obvious. Ten months later these suspicions 
were verified in a manner that rendered it impossible to doubt 
that the actions of the Government at this time were delib- 
erately intended to deceive the Irish people. 

These two actions on the part of the British Government 
had much to do with the events that followed. To make 
it appear that the Rebellion would never have taken place 
but for the formation of the Coalition Cabinet or for the 
further postponement of the Home Rule Act would be to 
create a false impression, for the attempt to dragoon Irish 
manhood into England's army and other tyrannical measures 
were also contributing factors. But these two events were 
largely responsible for opening the eyes of the Irish people to 
the actual facts of the case. Many in Ireland had previously 
thought that Mr. Redmond was doing everything in his 
power to secure justice for Ireland. Those who still thought 
so after the end of 1915 were in so small a minority as to be 
negligible, for they consisted almost exclusively of those who 
were attached to the Irish Parliamentary Party for motives 
of personal gain. That there could be many who honestly 
believed that the British Government and their Irish allies 
were actuated by any genuine feelings for Ireland and the 
Irish people is impossible. Every act of the Government 
and of the Irish Party was against the sincerest convictions of 
the Irish people, as publicly voiced in resolutions from practi- 
cally every elective body in Ireland. 

Little by little every one of the dearest hopes of Ireland 
had been bartered away. It should not be forgotten that 
the big aspiration of the Irish people was one for freedom — 
freedom in its biggest sense. In the minds of the men who 



132 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

were now taking up the leadership of Ireland, the vision of 
Ireland a Nation had never been lost. They had the true 
ideals of the patriots, and it was but natural that the weak 
and vacillating policy of Redmond and his party should 
crumble to pieces before the onslaught of the men who wished 
to see Ireland take her place amongst the nations. These 
men, while most of them were not actually allied with the 
oflScial Sinn Fein party, had the Sinn Fein view of things, 
and many had also the belief that the only way in which they 
would ever be able to gain anything from England was by 
force of arms. The manner in which Redmond and Asquith 
had acted merely served to convince the waverers among them 
that there was no other hope left for the Irish but an appeal 
to force. 



CHAPTER XX 

The Shadow of Conscription 

IF a proof be required that Englishmen are very loath to 
fight their own battles, this proof was furnished during 
the progress of the European War. France, Russia, Bel- 
gium, Italy, and other nations were quickly in arms; the 
English meanwhile brought to the field of battle Canadians, 
Hindoos, Welsh and Scottish, and members of a score of other 
nationahties; thus, they believed, they would fulfill their obli- 
gations to their allies, without interfering too much with the 
English people at home. They had also relied on an army of 
some half a million men from Ireland, believing that Irish 
brawn and muscle would be an asset of the greatest value to 
them. The manner in which they made their bid for Irish 
assistance has been dealt with at length. That they failed 
was a necessary consequence of their own actions. Even had 
the Irish been friendly to England, they would not have an- 
swered the call under such conditions. No nation in the world 
would submit to such tyrannical coercion — much less lick the 
hand that held the whip and march out to die that its op- 
pressor might live. 

The loss of the Irish support and the taunts of the European 
Allies made the British Government realize that something 
must be done to secure a larger army. It was brought face 
to face with the unpleasant alternative of either creating an 
army among the English to defend their own interests and 
their own property or of being left to their fate by their 
Allies and possibly invaded by the Germans. It was at this 
stage that the talk of conscription became prominent in the 
British Press. The very evil which they had denounced as 
one of the causes of their quarrel with Germany was the 
thing they were themselves forced to turn to in order to save 



134 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

themselves. Britain found that her Navalism and her foreign 
credit were not enough. She must also have militarism. So 
the British Cabinet took up, with reluctance, it is true, the 
question of conscription. 

As has already been pointed out, the failure of the recruiting 
campaign in Ireland was the thing that led, more than any- 
thing else, to this decision. It had been the fond hope of the 
Government that Mr. Redmond would be able to draft the 
Volunteers en bloc into the British Army. This scheme had 
not failed through lack of effort on the part of Mr. Redmond. 
It is more than probable that he would have been as glad as 
the Government to have been rid of men who were in a 
critical mood and inclined to show temper. It happened, 
however, that the Volunteers, as well as numbers not then 
affiliated with that organization, had decided to remain at 
home and let the British fight for the rights in which they 
were interested. 

Every effort was exhausted to solve the problem without 
adopting conscription. This was not owing to the distaste of 
the English for conscription, for this had already been faced, 
and the fact recognized that some form of compulsion had to 
come. The trouble again lay with Ireland. If the Govern- 
ment were to pass a Conscription Act and leave Ireland 
outside its scope, there would be a howl of protest from the 
British masses. On the other hand, the enforcement of con- 
scription in Ireland might precipitate a crisis which, with 
the Volunteers still in the country, might be hard to settle. 
The Irish, as even Mr. Redmond was forced to tell the 
British, would not have conscription. 

While the negotiations were at this stage. The Manchester 
Guardian, one of the most prominent and influential of the 
Government organs in the provinces, came out with the 
announcement that it was the duty of the Irish to fight for 
the Empire and let the British stay at home for the purpose 
of making the required preparations to capture the trade of 
the Germans when the war would be over. This was a new 
instance of British insolence. That the British would go to 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 135 

any lengths rather than do their fighting for themselves was 
now a recognized fact; but that they should have the effron- 
tery to state as much in cold print was somewhat startling. 
This announcement, which was given wide publicity in Ire- 
land, helped the Irish people to realize the truth of the 
matter. It was an open confession that the average English- 
man was a coward, in spite of the wonderful victories that 
the "British" army has been credited with in the past, and 
that his aim was to make the Irish fight his battle with the 
Germans, just as he had armed the Indians against the 
Americans, in the War of Independence. 

The Volunteer Scheme, inaugurated by Lord Derby as a 
last resort to avoid conscription, was a rank failure, and was 
admitted as such by the Government. After the scheme had 
been in operation for several months, it was found that there 
were still almost one million bachelors of military age who 
had not responded in spite of the fact that every effort was 
made to shame the men into joining the army. Eventually, 
therefore, the Government was forced to face the fact that 
the only way to get the Britisher into a military uniform was 
by force. A draft was thus decided on, and little by little 
put into operation. 

The presence of the Irish Volunteers, and the fact that they 
were armed and drilled, still presented a thorny problem, but 
one that the British were determined to overcome. Prepara- 
tions were made whereby the Volunteer trouble might be 
eliminated. There was only one way — apart from concession 
of Home Rule — in which this could be done now, since the 
Volunteers had made it obvious that they had not the slightest 
intention of leaving Ireland to fight the Germans. This one 
way was by taking the arms from the Volunteers. Once 
disarmed, the matter would be comparatively simple. Not 
only the Volunteers but the other men of the country would 
then be helpless and at the mercy of the British Government. 
In addition, it would also release a large portion of the 
British army that were being kept in Ireland as a precau- 
tionary measure. 



136 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

The people of Ireland were not long in hearing rumors of 
what was proposed. Mr. Redmond was also well aware of 
the plan to disarm the Volunteers as the first step towards 
bringing the country within the scope of the Conscription 
Act, but he kept silent in spite of the fact that he had strenu- 
ously denounced every suggestion that that Act should be 
applied to Ireland. These denunciations were made at a 
time when the Volunteers were in full possession of their 
strength, and he was suflSciently aware of the facts of the 
situation to know that the application of conscription to 
Ireland would immediately precipitate an outbreak, in which 
his fortunes as well as those of the Government with which 
he was so affectionately affiliated would hang precariously in 
the balance. 

It became increasingly evident that the conscription issue 
was to be the test of the whole situation in Ireland. The 
leaders who had sprung up there and were more in touch with 
the people than were Mr. Redmond and his friends in the 
Government were also aware of the peril that confronted 
them. The conscription issue caused them to work with more 
vigor than before, to do everything possible to have their 
preparations perfected when the time came for action. They 
had definitely decided that, if they were to do any fighting, 
they would do it on their own soil; that, if they were going 
to fight for the freedom of any country, it would be for the 
freedom of the land they loved. They had made up their 
minds also that the time had come to show the world where 
Ireland stood, and to expose the lies and misrepresentations 
that had been scattered broadcast by men who were posing 
as Irish leaders, while ignoring the opinions of the Irish 
people. They knew that the time was at hand when they 
would have to give stern and practical proof of the faith that 
was in them, but they were determined that they would not 
be found wanting. 

In the preceding pages, owing to the circumstances of the 
case, the attention of the reader has been necessarily directed 
to the English side of the Irish Sea. We may now turn again 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 137 

to the Irish side of the picture to consider the significance of 
the events that were shaping themselves there. 

It will now be our duty to consider the men and the 
organizations that were soon to strike another blow for Irish 
Freedom. Much has been written about these men and 
these organizations by writers without direct or immediate 
knowledge of either. The following chapters, whatever their 
other shortcomings, will be free at least from this cardinal 
defect, for they are based on a personal and intimate knowl- 
edge of both. In view of the fact that this portion of the 
work especially is based on the personal experiences of the 
author, the reader who desires primarily the authentic facts 
will overlook what might otherwise be deemed the unneces- 
sary obtrusion of the author's personality into an historical 
narrative. 



CHAPTER XXI 

The Gathering of the Clans 

ONE of the commonest errors made by writers with- 
out any personal knowledge of the situation in Ire- 
land was the placing of the label of "Sinn Fein" 
upon the Irish Rebellion of 1916. It was not a Sinn Fein 
Rebellion; it was an Irish Rebellion. The Sinn Fein organiza- 
tion, as represented by its members, had indeed much to do 
with the Rebellion, but so had at least six other organizations. 
Furthermore, the majority of the men who figured most 
prominently in the Rebellion belonged to the Irish Republican 
Brotherhood. A short description of the six organizations is 
the purpose of the present chapter. 

The Irish Republican Brotherhood was formally organized 
on St. Patrick's Day, 1858, on the arrival of James Stephens 
in America from Ireland. The I. R. B., as it was generally 
known, was the direct successor to the Emmet Monument 
Association, which had been organized in 1855, and had for 
its object the freedom of Ireland — the only fitting monu- 
ment to Robert Emmet's memory. The organization spread 
rapidly throughout the United States and Ireland. It was 
the I. R. B. that organized the rebellion that started on 
March 4, 1867, and it was the I. R. B. that had subsequently 
maintained the agitation for complete independence. Even 
when the possibility of freeing Ireland seemed most remote, 
the leaders of this organization did not despair. They held 
always to the belief that Ireland must be free, and that bullet 
and steel were the only means by which her liberation could 
be wrung from England. 

Among the men who had been, as it were, born in this 
movement was John Devoy, and to him the credit must be 
largely given for keeping the movement alive in the face of 



THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 139 

great opposition. A man of the widest experience of the 
world, his knowledge of Ireland was unique. After a period 
of service in the French Foreign Legion in Algeria, where 
he received his military training, Devoy returned to Ireland 
in 1862, settled at Athy, in County Kildare, and joined the 
local circle of the I. R. B. His record from that time was one 
of continuous service to the cause of Ireland, both at home 
and in America. In America he later became the editor of 
The Gaelic American, the official organ of the Brotherhood, 
and was one of the most active promoters of every genuine 
movement tending towards the freedom of Ireland. 

In spite of advancing years, Devoy never lost that vigor of 
mind which distinguished his younger days. He was a clear 
and cool thinker, a man capable of analyzing every situation as 
it arose, applying to it, as the supreme test, its bearing on 
Irish national independence. Nothing less would satisfy his 
conception of justice for his native land, and his strenuous 
opposition to John Redmond dated from the moment when 
he discovered that the latter was willing to whittle away the 
claims of Ireland. 

Under Devoy*s leadership the I. R. B. became strong in 
America and was soon able to be of practical aid and assist- 
ance to the organization in Ireland. The two countries were 
in close and constant touch, and The Gaelic American in New 
York City, and Irish Freedom in Dublin, did yeoman work 
in rousing the people from their lethargy. 

The manner in which the Irish Volunteers came into being 
has already been mentioned. It is only necessary to recall 
here that, while Redmond still held control of a small remnant 
of the original body (the Irish National Volunteers), the vast 
majority had forsaken the so-called Irish Leader and joined 
the Irish Volunteers, led by Eoin MacNeill, who had opposed 
Redmond's efforts to hand the organization over to the 
British Government. By the time of the rebellion, the Irish 
Volunteers were all in active agreement with the leaders of 
the I. R. B., to which organization many of them belonged. 

Considerable mention has also been made of the Sinn 



140 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

Feiners, and their policy has been explained in full. That 
policy, however, was not a physical force policy, and for some 
years there existed active disagreement between the I. R. B. 
and the Sinn Fein Party. In effect their aims were identical. 
The difference was that the I. R. B. believed that physical 
force was the only possible remedy for the ills of Ireland, 
while the Sinn Feiners inclined rather to a policy of passive 
resistance, coupled with an energetic awakening of the spirit 
of the people and the encouragement of the cult of self- 
reliance. As a matter of fact, however, Arthur Griffith 
always believed that the final test would be the appeal to 
arms, and that nothing else would win the final fight for the 
freedom of the country. 

The Citizen Army was composed of the men of the Irish 
Transport and General Workers' Union, with headquarters 
at Liberty Hall on the corner of Beresford Place and Eden 
Quay. This organization sprang into being about the same 
time as the National Volunteers, when Dublin was in the 
throes of the struggle between the Irish workers and the 
banded employers of the city. Curiously enough, the Citizen 
Army was at first in active opposition both to the Volun- 
teers and the Sinn Fein Party. Their official organ. The Irish 
Worker, attacked both Eoin MacNeill and Arthur Griffith 
with refreshing impartiality, but this condition of affairs 
came to an end with the transfer of the leadership from James 
Larkin to James Connolly in 1914. 

Of the other organizations particular mention must be made 
of the Gaelic League, which was founded in 1893, and for some 
years inhabited unpretentious back rooms in Dublin. When 
Father Eugene O'Growney, in a moment of inspiration, pro- 
duced his "Simple Lessons in Irish," its real progress began. 
At first, the Gaelic League was the target for superficial 
scoffers, but, founded on the living rock of national conscious- 
ness, its influence grew very rapidly. The addition of local 
branches, the holding of the annual Oireachtas (National 
Festival) in Dublin and of Feiseanna (little festivals) through- 
out the country, the revival of Irish dancing and music, and 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 141 

the fostering of Irish industries, won an ever-widening circle 
of supporters for the movement. The founding of the Indus- 
trial Development Association was another most important 
result of the activities of the League. The Gaelic League 
thus strove, by every means in its power, to promote every- 
thing that was Irish, always according the Gaelic language 
the first place among the factors making for a truly Irish 
Ireland. 

With a view to reviving the fine democracy of the Ireland 
of old, the Gaelic League strove strenuously and successfully 
to break down the ridiculous social barriers introduced into 
Ireland with English feudalism. Aerdheachtanna, Cuir- 
meachta, Ceoil, Seilgeanna, Feiseanna, Dancing Classes, and 
other methods were established with this end in view. The 
complete Irishing of the mental outlook of the people was 
aimed at. Teachers and organizers were sent out all over 
the country, and their work was of the utmost importance 
in counteracting the Anglicizing influences that had been 
brought to bear on the people for centuries previously. 

On the other hand, the Gaelic League kept strictly aloof 
from local or national politics. Its work terminated where 
politics began. But the effect of the teachings and the propa- 
ganda of the Gaelic League was seen in the manner of men it 
produced. The boys and youths who attended the classes of 
the Gaelic League were all convinced "Irish-Irelanders." 
Most, if not all, of the organizers were the same. It was, 
therefore, only to be expected that these men would take an 
active part in the revolutionary movement. 

That all the work was not to be left to the men became 
evident soon after the outbreak of the war, when the Cumann 
na mBan (or Irish Women's Council) was organized. Mrs. 
Thomas Clarke and many other prominent women were the 
active organizers of this society, which had for its object the 
assisting of the men in every possible way. That this assist- 
ance was meant to be very practical is shown by the fact 
that all the women of the Cumann na mBan learned to handle 
rifle and revolver. The movement spread quickly through 



142 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

Ireland, and, when the time for action came, the women 
of Dublin played an heroic and conspicuous role in the 
Revolution. 

Particular mention has also to be made of the Fianna na 
hEirinn (or the Irish Boy Scouts). Organized in 1912 by 
the Countess Markievicz, this organization brought into the 
national movement the boys and youths of Ireland, and made 
of them Gaels of the Gael. Inspired by stories of the Fianna 
of old — that hero army of Ireland that flourished in the 
Golden Age under the leadership of Fionn MacCumhal — the 
boys of Ireland joined the movement with all the wonder and 
enthusiasm inherent in the Irish boy unspoiled by English 
contagion. By yeoman work in this field. Countess Markie- 
vicz made the organization the best in the country. 

It will be seen from the foregoing that the Revolution was 
aided by the men, women, and even the children of Dublin. 
As has been said there were dividing lines between these 
organizations, but these lines disappeared before the attacks 
of the common enemy. All these organizations were at work 
long before the Revolution, and the majority long before the 
outbreak of the war. The inspiring motive of them all was 
the same, for each was but a different expression of the funda- 
mental need for liberty of action which is the breath of every 
nation. Liberty or extinction, — no other choice is possible 
for a nation. Where class oppression exists, there can be no 
social peace. While nations are oppressed, dreams of world 
peace are futile. England's assertion that the Irish Revolu- 
tion was due to some strange spell cast by Germany over the 
Irish people can deceive no thinking man. For, even sup- 
posing that the first incitement to rebellion had been given by 
Germany and not by murderous attacks on innocent people 
on Bachelor's Walk and in O'Connell Street, the fact remains 
that after centuries of experience of English rule the Irish 
people eagerly embraced the opportunity to get rid of it. 



T 



CHAPTER XXII 

Righteous Men 

HOMAS DAVIS saw clearly into the future when he 
wrote in the poem which serves at present as Ireland's 
National Anthem : — 

"For freedom comes from God's right hand 
And needs a godly train; 
And righteous men must make our land 
A nation once again." 

Of all the men who took part in the battle for the free- 
dom of Ireland in 1916, it may be said that they corresponded 
fully with Davis's dream and hope. They had lived well that 
they might die well, and their deaths were but the fitting 
conclusion to lives spent in unselfish and sincere devotion and 
loyalty to the land they loved so well. 

On a bitterly cold evening in January, 1910, the writer 
went with a friend to a small store at the corner of O'Connell 
and Parnell Street (or Great Britain Street, as the latter was 
then known). The store was of a size that did not permit 
more than half a dozen men to stand in front of the counter 
at a time. There was just about enough space between the 
counter and the wall for two men to walk in together. Along 
the wall were arranged all of the important Dublin and Irish 
newspapers, weekly and monthly periodicals, and so forth. 
Behind the short and narrow counter was a large assortment 
of brands of tobacco, cigars, pipes, and cigarettes, with a side 
line of stationery. The window was occupied mainly by a 
cardboard representation of an Irish Round Tower, adver- 
tising the Banba brand of Irish tobacco. Both the window 
and the store itself were brilliantly lighted, and the whole 
place suggested care and attention and spotless cleanliness. 



144 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

But the store and its attractiveness were forgotten after 
the first glance at the man who stood behind the counter. 
Of medium height, with gray hair thinning away from the 
temples, with dark-blue eyes deeply sunken under shaggy 
brows and high cheek-bones standing up in startling promi- 
nence from thin, sunken, and emaciated cheeks, the general 
appearance of the man was such as to bring to the mind 
pictures of a watchful eagle perched high upon a rocky crag. 
The whole aspect of the man was keenness personified. Seem- 
ingly nearing the seventies, he was, nevertheless, possessed of 
a force and vigor that might well have been envied by men 
in their early thirties. The truth was that the man was in 
the prime of life. Brutality and confinement, however, had 
left on his features a mark that death alone could remove, but 
had been powerless to subdue the fire that glowed within and 
animated every thought and action of his life. 

"Tom," said my companion to him, "this is our friend 
whom you have been expecting.'* Then, turning to me, he 
uttered the simple words: "Tom Clarke.'* 

Thomas J. Clarke was a man whom to know was to respect. 
As a business man, he had made a success of his life under 
circumstances that would have sent others to an early grave. 
He was a native of Dungannon, and in 1879 emigrated to the 
United States, where he became adjutant of the Irish Volun- 
teers of New York City. In 1881 he was sentenced to penal 
servitude for life in England for his nationalist activities. In 
1898 he was released on ticket-of -leave, and the following year 
he returned to America, where he married a niece of his fel- 
low-worker, John Daly of Limerick. He returned to Dublin 
in 1907, where he started once more in business in Pamell 
Street, and rapidly built up a comfortable little fortune. He 
also improved in his health, but his treatment in English 
jails, and the long term that he served there before gaining 
his release, had withered the flesh on his bones and dug the 
hollows in his cheeks. 

His zeal and his unquestioned integrity soon brought him 
to the forefront of the national movement. Many of the 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 145 

visitors who drifted casually into his store and gazed, per- 
haps with pity, at the seemingly haggard old man, would 
have been amazed had they known of the power and influence 
he wielded. They would have marveled less had they seen 
him, when the occasion was opportune, discussing the political 
situation aud the plans for the recovery of Irish freedom. 
Long before the outbreak of the war in Europe he and the 
men with whom he was so closely associated had planned 
with care and thoroughness events that were later to arouse 
the world. In 1910 these plans were well advanced, and the 
arrangements for the opening of the campaign to awaken 
the people were nearing completion. So far as Ireland, and 
particularly Dublin, was concerned, Thomas J. Clarke was the 
center and the soul of the movement for Irish independence. 

Closely associated with Clarke was Sean MacDermott, a 
native of County Leitrim and one of the finest types of young 
men that Ireland produces. An athlete from his head to his 
toes, Sean appealed irresistibly to all who knew him. He was 
a young man in his early twenties when I first met him, and 
at our very first meeting I was impressed by the idea that he 
represented my ideal of an Irish youth. He was of medium 
height, with dark hair and blue eyes, with a frank and fear- 
less gaze that made it impossible to doubt of his sincerity. 
Sean MacDermott was a man of sterling qualities — a man 
who loved Ireland's every rock and stone, whose delight it 
was to travel throughout the country, meeting the people and 
conversing with them, singing the old songs and writing new 
ones, dancing in the barns and at the cross-roads, and entering 
with enthusiasm into every phase of national life and action. 
He was keenly interested in Gaelic sports, and took part in 
the hurling and football matches, until his work for the cause, 
and later his illness, rendered it impossible. It was one of 
the most tragic features of this illness that it should have 
attacked a man who was so passionately fond of all forms of 
outdoor exercise. 

Shortly after the promulgation of the Sinn Fein policy in 
1905, Sean MacDermott became associated with the move- 



146 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

ment, although he was then but a mere boy. His enthusiasm, 
however, and the earnestness with which he worked, resulted 
in his being engaged as an organizer, and in this capacity he 
traveled around the country addressing meetings and forming 
branches. His thorough knowledge of the feelings of the Irish 
people as a whole, and his geniality towards all with whom he 
came in contact, contributed in no small measure to his suc- 
cess. On the other hand, this very success earned for him 
enemies among those who had the best of reasons to fear the 
new movement, and on two occasions Sean was shot at and 
had narrow escapes from assassination. 

When the Sinn Fein National Council decided that they 
would accede to Mr. Redmond's plea for a truce and refrain 
from putting into operation any part of the Sinn Fein policy 
that might embarrass the actions of the Parliamentary Party 
in their fight for Home Rule, Sean decided that the time had 
come for him to affiliate himself with a more vigorous organi- 
zation. He was one of the many who did not agree with 
the decision of the National Council, believing that it would 
have been far better to have prosecuted the Sinn Fein policy 
vigorously, since the country was ripe for it, and it would give 
far better results than the Parliamentary Party would ever 
be able to obtain even under the most favorable circumstances. 
When he became a member of the I. R. B., Sean threw him- 
self into the work with his characteristic energy, and soon 
became one of Thomas Clarke's lieutenants. He also became 
an organizer for the Wolf Tone Clubs, a movement that aimed 
at securing the right recruits for the actual Brotherhood. 
With Dr. Patrick MacCartan, Thomas J. Clarke, and others, 
he was instrumental in the establishment of Irish Freedorriy a 
weekly newspaper that had for its objects the arousing of the 
men of Ireland to action. Under the editorship of Mac- 
Cartan, the paper made a gallant struggle for recognition. 
It brought into Ireland something of the old spirit that so 
many believed to be dead, and little by little it gained the 
confidence and the affection of the people. 

Shortly after his accession to the throne, King George V 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 147 

decided to pay a visit to his subjects in Ireland. Immediately 
on the announcement of this decision on the part of His 
Majesty preparations to give him a public welcome were 
inaugurated in some quarters, although Nationalist Ireland 
had always stood aloof on the occasion of royal visits. Those 
who desired to see Ireland remain under the heel of England 
prepared, however, to engineer a *' loyal'* reception; those 
who had other ideals for Ireland also made preparations, 
and one of the hardest workers among the latter was Sean 
MacDermott. 

As illustrative of the temper of the city and of the country 
about this time, the editorial which appeared in Irish Freedom 
on June 7, 1911, may be reprinted here. This editorial will 
also serve as an interesting example of the revolutionary 
literature of the time. Thousands of copies of the paper were 
sold, while the posters advertising it and bearing the legend 
in bold type, "concessions be damned!" were displayed 
from one end of the city to the other. The article follows: 

By the time these lines meet the eyes of our readers. King George 
of England will be well on his way to this island, to be received with 
slavish worship by the jelly-fish and snakes that infest the country. 
There will be presentation of addresses from certain Corporations 
and Councils, much adoration, and a certain amount of title-bestow- 
ing on jelly-fish. In the midst of all this we have a word to say to 
our visitor and to all whom it may concern. 

This visit has been termed a visit of conciliation and peace. It 
is nothing of the kind; it is a visit to corrupt the political conscience 
of the nation, an arrogant insult to our intelligence, an assumption 
that we are all jelly-fish. At no time more than at the present time 
was there need for plain and honest speaking on this question. 
The collection of jelly-fish, which calls itself an Irish National 
Party, has intimated that it only awaits Home Rule to become 
fervid upholders of the Empire, that the Irish people are in reality 
yearning to be in a position to participate in the "imiversal rejoic- 
ings throughout the Empire" at the present time. Irish National- 
ists throughout the country — with the degrading exception of 
that portion of Cork which William O'Brien has made mad — have 
generally refused to acknowledge this visit, or to bow the knee, but 



148 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

such is the confusion that they have all shrunk from an open and 
unmitigated refusal, and have thought it necessary to intimate or 
to hint that "the time is not yet ripe." 

Now, therefore, this is to declare to all whom it may concern, that 
the time will never be ripe, that neither the statesmanship of John 
Redmond nor the economics of Tom Kettle represent the Irish 
nation; that George is usurper of Ireland, not King of it. King only 
of so much of it as he can overawe by his bayonets or bribe with 
his gold and his titles; and that Ireland wants no concession from 
England. We want what is ours, that is our country, and by the 
Lord we mean to have it, come what may. 

On occasions like this it is suddenly discovered that King George 
is a man, and that the native courtesy of the Irish people demands 
that they should not insult him, but should allow the snakes and 
jelly-fish to speak in the name of the nation. To which we have 
to say that he is not a man, but an instrument, moved upon the 
board by the same political machine that guides the microbe-hunting 
of Ishbel Aberdeen, who is not a woman but an instrument likewise. 
We mean no disrespect to the man, because we see none; we only 
see the representative of the faithless nation which cannot be an 
honest tyrant, but must always be a hypocritical one, doing the 
devil's work on Bible texts. 

The only thing which we want of England is to be let alone, 
to be free from her grip at our throat and her hand in our pocket. 
We want her to draw off her soldiers and her statesmen and her 
Bureaucracy, and the whole hideous devil's device which passes as 
a Government in Ireland. We want this done, but we do not ask 
England to do it; we do not beg or pray; we make no bargain, and 
we call no truce; this is a fight, not an amusement or a game. We, 
representing that portion of the nation which is in the National 
tradition, the backbone of the nation, we call upon our fellow-coun- 
trymen everywhere to free their country, and we tell them that 
they can do it, and that no other power can or will. We scorn and 
spit upon the Empire, an Empire built upon blood and desolation; 
we shall never remain in it willingly; we want none of its spoils 
and we repudiate its atrocities; we will not sell our birthright for 
a mess of pottage or for a King's feast. 

We stand for Ireland; in the fact of hog, dog or devil we stand 
for Ireland, not for an Ireland a portion of any Empire, not for an 
Ireland in swaddling clothes and leading strings, but for a self-reliant. 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 149 

free Ireland, with no sins upon its soul, and no stains upon its ban- 
ner. We stand for that Ireland which produced Brian, whose 
chosen place was the battlefield while foreigners held sway in his 
country; and Hugh, Shane and Owen O'Neill, and O'Donnell the 
Red and Roger O'More, and Tone and Emmet and Fitzgerald, and 
Mitchel and Davis and Stevens and Rooney. Dead names crowd 
upon our memory, dead men crowd before our eyes, the gallant dead 
whose names we know, and the equally gallant dead whose names 
we do not know. Out of the four-fifths of Ireland and out of Ulster 
they come, a silent company, bearing witness to the nation, bearing 
witness by their wounds, marks of the hangman, marks of the heads- 
man, marks of the prison and assassin, marks of the torturer, marks 
of the slave-overseer, marks of starvation, bearing witness by their 
deeds and their courage, bearing witness by their deaths. We take 
our stand with them. On their behalf, on our own behalf, on the 
behalf of the inhabitants of this country, we repudiate all bargains 
or treaties concerning the rights of this nation. 

CONCESSIONS BE DAMNED, WE WANT OUR COUNTRY! 

As will be shown later, there is a striking resemblance 
between parts of this editorial and the Proclamation of the 
Irish Republic. It will be of interest also to note that these 
were no empty vaporings, as some may have thought at the 
time. Tom Clarke and Sean MacDermott, the two men who, 
in collaboration, produced the editorial, were destined, before 
the passage of many years, to take their stand in death beside 
those Irish heroes whose examples they had so nobly followed 
in life. 



CHAPTER XXIII 

The Spirit of the Gael 

UNDER the combined protection of a large portion 
of his army, a considerable number of battleships, 
the Dublin Metropolitan Police, the Royal Irish Con- 
stabulary, and an army of spies and detectives. King George 
of England returned to his home across the Irish Sea in 
safety. The Irish people had ignored him; had looked upon 
his visit with distaste, and were well pleased when the ordeal 
was over, and he and his army and navy and retinue of 
cheap- jacks had relieved Dublin of their presence. The tem- 
porary transfer of Windsor Castle and Leicester Square to 
Dublin had turned the Irish metropolis by day into a deserted 
city and by night into a den of infamy. 

The work and the worry of that period, however, left a 
lasting mark upon Sean MacDermott. A few weeks later 
he was stricken with that mysterious plague, infantile paraly- 
sis, and for months he lingered in the Mater Hospital between 
life and death. When at length he fought his way back to 
life, he was merely a shadow of his former self. He came 
from the hospital crippled and bent. He walked slowly and 
with diflficulty — first with a crutch, and later with the aid of 
a walking stick. But the spirit that had animated the Sean 
MacDermott of the playing fields and the street meetings was 
as vigorous as ever. He plunged once more into the work of 
editing his paper, and, assisted by Bulmer Hobson, did noble 
service in carrying on the movement. 

Another of the men who worked day and night for the 
Irish cause was The O'Rahilly, head of the Kerry clan of 
that name. In spite of his distinguished title, he was one of 
the most democratic of men, a man who had learned to love 
his fellow-men of whatever station, who had a wide outlook 



THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 151 

upon the world, and who had imbibed to its fullest extent the 
military spirit of the people of Ireland. From the time when 
he returned to Ireland after a lengthy sojourn on the Con- 
tinent and in the United States, he threw himself heart and 
soul into the national movement. From the first, he was 
intensely interested in the Sinn Fein movement, and, even 
when that movement ceased for a while to urge a vigorous 
campaign, he still believed it an admirable method of freeing 
Ireland, and remained one of the closest personal friends of 
Arthur Griffith. In one respect, however, The O'Rahilly was 
more than a Sinn Feiner, as the Sinn Feiners were known in 
the days before the war. The O'Rahilly never wavered in 
his belief that the only way in which Ireland could win her 
freedom was with the sword. While the Sinn Fein movement 
was largely pacific, most of the men allied with it shared The 
O'Rahilly's opinion, although they did not all take an active 
part from the beginning in preparing for a military uprising. 
That Arthur Griffith believed physical force to be the only 
means whereby the ultimate salvation of Ireland could be 
won will be shown later. 

The O'Rahilly, however, was not only a believer in physical 
force; he was an advanced thinker along these lines, and was 
at all times ready to consider any proposal that seemed to 
possess any value as an adjunct to the arming of the nation. 
In 1912 and in 1913 he and the writer spent many hours in 
discussing the possibility of establishing an aeroplane corps 
in Ireland, the intention being to have a number of aero- 
planes, owned by individual members of the organization, 
and to train men in their use so that they would be ready 
when needed. We discussed the matter with Tom Clarke, 
Sean MacDermott, Bulmer Hobson, Piaras Beasley, and a 
number of others, and an organization, known as An Cumann 
Eitel (The Irish Flying Club) was actually started in the fall 
of 1912, but had unfortunately to be dropped, owing to the 
difficulty of securing the machines. Later events tended to 
demonstrate that a corps such as that planned would have 
been invaluable during the rising. 



152 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

The O'Rahilly was present at the meeting in Wynn's 
Hotel, Dubhn, when the Volunteer movement was planned, 
and was one of the most active in the organization from the 
very start. He was of medium height, clean cut, and with a 
military bearing. He was indefatigable in training the men, 
and was beloved by all who knew him, for he never wavered 
or hesitated. He resisted to the last John Redmond's attempt 
to capture and disband the Volunteers, and his death in his 
Volunteer uniform of green, with sword and revolver in hand, 
was typical of the man and was the only death he would have 
desired. 

Regarding Padraic Pearse, the first President of the Irish 
Republic, many pages might be written. He was a man who 
personified in himself the noblest traditions of the country he 
loved and for which he sacrificed his life. Born in 1880, 
Padraic was educated at the Christian Brothers' School, West- 
land Row, Dublin, and at the Royal University. At the age 
of seventeen he founded and became first President of the 
New Ireland Literary Society. From their earliest days both 
he and his brother, William James Pearse, were ardent stu- 
dents of Irish history and Irish language, and, when they were 
both mere boys, took a vow that they would work and, if 
need be, die for Ireland. Shy, earnest, rather pale but strik- 
ingly handsome, Pearse had the appearance of the student 
and the scholar. He impressed all who came into touch with 
him as being at once an enthusiast and a practical man of 
affairs. As a teacher of a language class under the Gaelic 
League in 1899, he already showed that he had imbibed the 
very soul of the Gael. He was full of enthusiasm for Irish 
linguistic studies, and delved deeply into Irish folk-lore and 
early Irish music and poetry. 

In 1901 Pearse was called to the Irish bar, and was the 
recipient of many congratulations. He then set to work to 
found St. Enda's School at Rathfarnam, County Dublin. St. 
Enda's was the only Irish college that was founded on a con- 
ception of all that was best in Irish life and tradition. There 
were other Irish colleges, such as that at Ballingeary, where 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 153 

the Irish language was taught; but St. Enda's was a college 
where a thorough modern education was provided in all its 
branches, and where the spirit of the Gael was predominant 
in everything. Had Pearse done nothing else than found 
St. Enda's and thus demonstrate how a modern system of 
education need not exclude the true spirit of the Gael, he 
would have accomplished a work deserving of the gratitude 
of every man, woman, and child of the Irish race. Apart 
entirely from its national signij&cance, St. Enda's was a most 
important contribution to the science of pedagogy, and its 
importance will be realized and conceded later when men turn 
away from destruction to peaceful pursuits. 

Not alone was Pearse a poet with the truest conception of 
the Gaelic ideal; he also wrote a number of remarkable 
miracle or morality plays. An able orator, he represented the 
Gaelic League at many Welsh and Scottish national gather- 
ings. In August, 1915, on the occasion of the funeral of 
O 'Donovan Rossa, he delivered the oration at the grave in 
Glasnevin, where his impassioned address was the outstanding 
feature of the ceremonies. 

No better illustration of the man himself and his ideals 
could be found than in the article which he wrote and pub- 
lished in four Irish papers — The Spark, Honesty, The Gael, 
and The Gaelic Athlete — three weeks before the Rebellion. 
For printing this article these papers were promptly sup- 
pressed by the Government. The article is a valuable con- 
tribution to the history of the Irish Rebellion, since it gives a true 
picture of the motives of its leaders. The article is as follows: 

Since the outbreak of the European war, I have often asked myself, 
**Are we at war with England?" and have satisfied myself by reply- 
ing in the affirmative. On deeper reflection I must say, our war 
with that country is only a war of words, one of lip and feeling. 

What are the signs of war, in the purely military sense? There 
are none, but is it so with the enemy? Oh, no; with her it is war, 
and real war towards us. Our casualty list is large between cap- 
tured, imprisoned, and deported. By captured I mean those whom 
she has deluded and seduced into her ranks. 



154 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

Where are the successes on our side to offset such losses? Paltry, 
withal the enemy in our midst has not lost a single man. 

We all declare, and justly so, that until Ireland is restored to her 
place amongst the nations of the earth, come what may, we are at 
war with England. It is very patriotic, no doubt, and truly national, 
but what is the value of such declarations if they be not supported 
by deeds? 

I believe that the time has come for a strong and determined 
offensive against all the entrenchments of the enemy in this country. 
The effect of such an offensive will be far-reaching. It will show 
our enemies that we are not conquered; that we are still out for the 
liberty of one small nationality, Ireland. It will cause an upheaval 
at home, the news of which will quickly reach our captured brethren 
abroad. If they have a trace of patriotism in their veins, and many 
of them have, they will not help the enemy that is shooting down 
their kith and kin at home. 

In short, an offensive at this moment may be the deciding factor 
in this war. The longer we delay, the better it will be for our 
enemies. They want no disturbance in Ireland, and will we help in 
their desire? 

Defeat in Ireland means more for the enemy than any defeat she 
may sustain in Flanders or elsewhere. The only consequence to 
us is that some of us may be launched into eternity quicker and 
sooner than we would like. But who are we, that we should hesitate 
to die for Ireland? 

Are not the claims of Ireland greater on us than any personal 
ones? Do we not boast of our loyalty and love for the Dear Dark 
Head? Is it fear that deters us from such an enterprise? Away 
with such fears! Cowards die many times; the brave die only once. 

It is admitted that nothing but a revolution can now save the 
historic Irish nation from becoming a mere appanage, a Crown 
Colony, of the British Empire. We do not desire such a consum- 
mation of the Island of Saints and Scholars, the land of the O'Neills 
and the O'Donnells, the land for which the coimtless have suffered 
and died. 

We call ourselves revolutionists; we glory in the name; we speak 
with pride of the Dawn of the Day. Were there ever such revolu- 
tionists? We want the revolution to start us, and not us to start it. 
If we really want to free Ireland, now is the time for action. Are 
we afraid to start up like men and bear the consequences, or is all 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 155 

our talk mere frothing only to delude our enemies as well as our 
followers? 

If we want the revolution, we must make it, and we must realize 
that such cannot be accomplished without bloodshed. We want war, 
for war justifies the removal of our enemies in the most expeditious 
manner. For that purpose we must know who our enemies are, 
and under no consideration must we allow them to interfere with the 
onward march of the Irish nation. Either we or they must fall in 
the fight. 

Some will cry out in horror at such a proposal. On what do they 
base their horror? Is it blood-spilling? Look at the war in Flanders. 
What blood is being spilled there daily! Do these deaths awake in 
such people a shudder of horror? No: war to them is justifiable in 
all countries except in Ireland. We are at war with England, and 
it is necessary that we should fight it to the bitter end. 

Look at the war in Flanders again. What are the motives under- 
lying this struggle? Are these motives just and noble? Is Ireland's 
struggle with England more legitimate and more sacred? Yes, it is. 

Our sufferings extend over centuries; no form of torture and perse- 
cution but England has tried on us. She is out for our conquest, 
and will stop at nothing to effect it. There is no hope for the future 
welfare of an independent Irish nation but in separation. 

God, in His wise providence, has separated us by the seas, but 
crafty, unscrupulous enemies bind us to that execrable government. 

If we remove these enemies, will separation follow? I say and 
believe "yes." These enemies are the connecting links with Dublin 
Castle. They are the links that bind, and they shall remain while 
England holds this country. If we want to break the connection 
with England, we must remoye these links, and we must render 
government by England impossible in this country. 

Is it an impossible task? Decidedly not. At the moment the 
minions of the government in Ireland stand trembling, afraid to 
disturb the people. They know their power is weak, and they are 
fearful lest any action of theirs may lose them their government, or 
at least may have an untoward effect on the Irish troops fighting for 
them in Flanders and elsewhere. 

I fear we do not realize our present strength and our enemies* 
weakness. Where is the British navy that we were told ruled the 
waves? Recent events show that her ruling is now past. As for 
land forces, what has England to put against us? She needs every 



156 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

available man to meet the German offensive. Even her conscript 
army will be needed. She may send some of them to Ireland, but 
are they such to make us fear? 

We are fighting for freedom; freedom for everyone: they are 
only conscripts fighting against their will. We are superior to them 
in every respect. We know our country, and by a simultaneous 
and systematic action we should shock, demoralize, and rout them. 

Comrades, everthing favors us. Now or never for the final 
onslaught. The shades of our immortal dead, the graves of the 
unavenged, the harrowing cries of our murdered priests, of our 
violated women, of the coffinless dead who are whitening the Atlantic's 
broad floor — all rise up and command us to do the noble deed, and 
fight the last fight for freedom. 

We must not wait till the war is over. England will then be at 
peace, and will be free to send her reserves against us. Will we 
wait to fail, or will we fight now to win? Yours is the choice. 

I am ready. For years I have waited and prayed for this day. 
We have the most glorious opportunity that has ever presented itself 
of really asserting ourselves. Such an opportunity may never come 
again. We have Ireland's liberty in our hands. Will we be free- 
men, or are we content to remain as slaves and idly watch the final 
extermination of the Gael? 

GOMERAGH. 

At another time he wrote, — and the words bear a pro- 
phetic air to-day, — referring to the same aspect of the case : 

We are older than England and we are stronger than England. 
In every generation we have renewed the struggle, and so it shall 
be unto the end. When England thinks she has trampled out 
our battle in blood, some brave man rises and rallies us again; 
when England thinks she has purchased us with a bribe, some good 
man redeems us by a sacrifice. 



CHAPTER XXIV 

The Men of the People 

NO two men could have presented a stranger contrast 
than did Thomas MacDonagh and James Connolly. 
Both were representative of a distinct class in the 
nation, and yet both representative of the people. Both were 
democrats of the purest type, yet seeking the emancipation 
of their fellow-men in different ways. Both were educators; 
both were men of literary gifts, as indeed were all the leaders 
of the rebellion; both were firm believers in the claims of the 
"bottom dog," and yet each trod a separate path, which, in 
the end, brought them to a common understanding, and to the 
consummation of their hopes and ideals in a common sacrifice. 

Thomas MacDonagh, a native of Clough Jordan in Tippe- 
rary, was in appearance a typical Irishman — tall and straight, 
clean-cut and good-looking, with short curly hair, a fine head, 
and a clear bright eye that looked as straight into the eye of 
his friends as later into the rifles of the shooting squad. He 
had an air of culture, and that fresh complexion that comes 
from a life spent in the open air amidst the fields and moun- 
tains of Ireland. Though he had a tendency to shyness, his 
whole bearing was one of good nature and friendliness. No 
one who met him could ever doubt his sincerity, even though 
they did not agree with his views. 

He was one of those bright spirits whose imagination loved 
to wander in the far-off Gaelic past — the Gaelic twilight, as 
some called it. But, while he wandered in fancy along the 
lanes and among the hills of Ireland in the Golden Age, 
drinking in the wonder and delight of the magic stories of 
long ago, he was ever looking into the future to that day when 
Ireland would be again the free and happy land he saw in 
his dreams. His studies in Gaelic literature and music were 



158 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

to him full of practical purpose, for they furthered the one 
grand object of his life — the making of Ireland a Nation. 

As Padraic Pearse's lieutenant at St. Enda's School, he 
assisted in the work of teaching the boys of Ireland the true 
meaning of Irish nationality. A fluent Gaelic speaker and a 
deep student of the language, he did wonderful work at the 
college, and deserves no inconsiderable share of the credit for 
the success with which the college accomplished the task 
set it by its founder. He was heart and soul in his work, 
and there developed between himself and his pupils a friend- 
ship that far exceeded the respect usually inspired by the 
teacher. He entered into the daily lives of the boys; he was 
their comrade and friend; his philosophy was their philosophy, 
and his ambitions were theirs. 

There was a great deal of the boy in Thomas, even after 
he had shouldered the responsibilities of parenthood. His 
affection was lavished upon his wife and family. With his 
wife, his little son and daughter, his class and his literary 
work, all of which engaged his enthusiasm and his affections, 
one would have imagined that he had little time for anything 
else. Yet, so big was the heart of the man, he was still able 
to love something greater and bigger than all these, something 
for the love of which he eventually gave up his class, his 
work, his wife and daughter, and his little boy Don — a 
beautiful, sweet-faced child who had twined himself around 
the innermost chords of his father's heart. MacDonagh left 
all these cheerfully and smilingly and went out to fight and 
die for Ireland. 

When MacDonagh joined the Irish Volunteers, he threw 
into the work that same wonderful enthusiasm that dis- 
tinguished everything he did. About this time he surren- 
dered the editorship of The Irish Review, a monthly magazine 
that expressed the thoughts of the leading poets, writers, and 
thinkers in the Irish-Ireland movement. He was thus enabled 
to devote a little more time to the Volunteers, and there 
were few more regular at the drills than he. He saw far 
ahead to the ultimate goal of the movement, but did not 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 159 

indulge in any false hopes or blind himself as to the desperate 
nature of the adventure. From the moment that he donned 
the uniform of the Irish Volunteers, he knew he had started on 
a line of action that would certainly imperil his life. He 
knew, also, when he signed the Proclamation of the Irish 
Republic, that his life was likely to pay the forfeit, yet he 
never wavered. 

Wih regard to his literary work, only a passing reference 
to it is necessary here. Books will be published later that 
will estimate his poems and his prose works at their true 
value. In all, he wrote and published five little books of 
poems, the most noteworthy being '* Through the Ivory 
Gate," "April and May," "The Golden Joy" and "Lyrical 
Poems." A posthumous work on Irish literature has recently 
appeared. In addition, many poems, scattered though Irish 
publications, have yet to be collected. One fact deserves 
mention regarding his inscriptions of the volumes which he 
issued. His earlier books were inscribed with his name 
spelled "M'Donagh," while in the last two he spelled his 
name " MacDonagh " — this fact, in itself, showing a devel- 
opment in his study of the Irish language and Irish customs. 

While in nobility of ideals and self-sacrificing patriotism, 
no one of the revolutionary leaders yields place to another, it 
is most interesting to notice how clearly the individuality of 
each is revealed in the manner in which he gives expression to 
the sentiments held in common by all. Pearse's passionate 
devotion finds vent in an outburst of fiery eloquence, as he 
calls for the overthrow of the oppressor of his country. 
MacDonagh immolates himseK on the altar of patriotism in a 
poem, the first two verses of which reveal the gentleness and 
diflSdence characteristic of the man, while the third pro- 
claims his conviction of the high justice and eventual success 
of a cause which ennobles all who espouse it. The poem is 
entitled; 



160 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

TO A POET CAPTAIN 

His songs were a little phrase 

Of eternal' song, 
Drowned in the harping of lays 

More loud and long. 

His deeds were a single word. 

Called out alone 
In a night when no echo stirred to laughter. 

To laughter or moan. 

But his songs new souls shall thrill. 

The loud harps dumb. 
And his deeds the echoes fill 

When the dawn is come. 

In almost direct contrast to MacDonagh was James Thomas 
Connolly, a native of Cork, the man who was chosen to com- 
mand the Dublin army of the Republicans. He was of heavy 
build, rather thick-set, with none of the refined appearance 
of MacDonagh and little, if any, of his poetic temperament, 
although he also indulged at times in versification. Rather 
full in the face, with a complexion that spoke of years passed 
in the open air, Connolly was easily identifiable as a leader of 
men who earn their bread by the sweat of their brow. While 
affable to all for whom he had a liking, he was a man of 
much reserve, slow to make friends and slower still to part 
with them. 

The writer came into intimate touch with Connolly during 
the general strike in Dublin during the latter half of 1913. 
This was a period of strife and stress in the city, when civil 
war was in the air and deadly riots were matters of weekly 
occurrence. When Jim Larkin, the strike organizer, was sent 
to jail for a speech he had delivered, Connolly took command 
at Liberty Hall, the headquarters of the Irish Transport 
Workers' Union, whose members were on strike. Wliile lack- 
ing the captivating and compelling personality of Larkin, 
Connolly possessed a diplomacy and an intellect that placed 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 161 

him far above Larkin. After Connolly assumed the direction 
of affairs, it soon became evident that the capitalists had to 
deal with a man whom they could not intimidate or cajole. 
We do not mean that these methods succeeded with Larkin, 
but that Connolly was able to meet the employers and beat 
them at their own game, whereas Larkin combatted them 
with a brutal directness. It was very freely alleged that 
Larkin had been hired by English capitalists for the purpose 
of crippling Irish industry, and his manner of action and of 
speech sometimes lent a semblance of color to the slander. 
No such statements were ever circulated regarding Connolly, 
whose record as an Irishman placed him above suspicion. 

For some time following the formation of the Irish Volun- 
teers, Connolly and the entire labor organization kept care- 
fully aloof. In the columns of The Irish Worker, edited by 
Connolly, there were frequent attacks on the Irish Volunteers, 
and none more bitter and scathing than those which appeared 
after the demands of John Redmond were acceded to. Con- 
nolly was doubtful as to whether the Volunteer movement 
held a promise of good for the working class or whether its 
policy was to be pursued along the usual lines of British 
political movements, which ignored the claims of the laboring 
classes. For a long period, therefore, Connolly was very cau- 
tious and noncommittal, contenting himself with the assertion 
that the emancipation of Ireland would never be accomplished 
without the aid of the working men and women, and that, 
until that fact was officially recognized, he himself and his 
Citizen Army would keep aloof from the Volunteers. That 
the proper assurances were forthcoming before the Revolution, 
was shown by the fact that he was appointed to the chief 
military command in Dublin. 

Connolly, like the other leaders of the Volunteers, did more 
than play at being a soldier. He spent much of his time 
studying military science, and his appointment to the Dublin 
Command was not based on sentiment, but on the knowledge 
he possessed. In his travels in the United States and Europe 
he had paid close attention to the military systems in opera- 



162 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

tion, and he possessed a mind admirably qualified to apply the 
knowledge he had thus acquired. He was nothing if not 
thorough, and he never wasted time in the study of anything 
that he did not intend to apply to a practical purpose. His 
military studies had been made primarily for the purpose of 
applying them, at some time in the future, to a renewal of 
the struggle for Irish Independence. This was the beginning 
of the Citizen Army, which, he hoped, would be the nucleus 
of an armed and drilled army of the entire working class. 

Connolly wrote many articles and a number of books. 
His earliest articles, on Socialism and Nationality, appeared 
in the Shan Van Vocht (The Shan, as it was affectionately 
called) in 1895, 1897, and 1898. This paper was edited by 
Alice Milligan and Anna Johnson (better known by her pen- 
name of Ethna Carbery). Connolly's articles in The Shan 
created wide discussion, owing, probably, to the fact that it 
was the first time an Irish Socialist had openly maintained 
that Socialism was not only not repugnant to the spirit of 
nationality, but was an integral part of it. 

Connolly's ablest work was published in 1910. It was 
entitled "Labor in Irish History," and is recognized as a 
standard work on the subject. 



CHAPTER XXV 

^ The Pen and the Sword 

OF the signers of the Proclamation there were two 
others also differing in many ways, who yet had the 
same vision. Eamonn Ceannt was born in Gal way 
in 1882. Tall and dark, slimly built but muscular, he was a 
young and vigorous Gael at the time when he affixed his 
signature to the Irish Declaration of Independence. Quiet 
in his manner and unassuming, his modesty of speech and 
manner made him slow in winning friends, but those whom 
he did number among his friends found him not only a 
delightful companion, but one who inspired unbounded 
confidence. He was of a philosophical turn of mind, and his 
vast reading in Irish, French, and English literature enabled 
him to speak with authority on a variety of subjects in a 
manner at once instructive and entertaining. He was a 
lover of poetry, a speaker of Gaelic, and thoroughly conver- 
sant with the history, literature, and traditions of his native 
land. 

His hobby was gardening. He was a lover of flowers and 
plants and all things green and young, and contributed 
numerous articles on gardening to Irish newspapers. He 
wrote on the subject in a most interesting manner, and no 
article of his failed in one or more points of special interest 
to the people of Ireland. He wrote much also on the political 
situation of the day, and not a little concerning the past 
history of Ireland. He also contributed a few poems to vari- 
ous publications, but these did not possess any outstanding 
merit. 

Ceannt was one of the most enthusiastic supporters of the 
Sinn Fein policy when it was first promulgated, and his 
enthusiasm and learning were valuable adjuncts to the cause. 



164 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

He assisted in the administrative end of the campaign, and 
contributed in no small degree to the success which marked 
the early days of the new movement. With the starting of 
the daily Sinn Fein newspaper, Ceannt threw himseK into the 
work with greater energy than before. When, during the 
period of quiescence, the new headquarters were opened in 
Harcourt Street, he spent much of his time there, assisting 
in the work of keeping the organization alive. He arranged 
courses of lectures and delivered lectures himself, never losing 
his enthusiasm or his belief in the eventual success of the 
policy, which, he declared, was based on the dearest hopes and 
aspirations of the race. 

After the formation of the Irish Volunteers, he was one of 
the first to take up the work of drilling a company, and, 
during the period between the outbreak of the European War 
and the Rebellion, he worked indefatigably as an officer and 
organizer. His work earned for him the place of honor he 
occupied on the Proclamation and later in front of the firing 
squad. 

Of similar type in many respects was Joseph Mary Plunkett, 
born in 1892. He was a man who made no false display 
either of his opinions or his genius, preferring to leave his 
deeds and his work to speak for him. He has left behind at 
least one volume of imperishable verse, and, while it is some- 
times dangerous to consider the work of a poet as the expres- 
sion of his personal views, there can be no doubt that the 
poems in this volume are the utterance of Plunkett*s inmost 
thoughts and the frank outpouring of his soul. He wrote 
indeed, not for the sake of writing, but to express the hopes 
and the ambitions that possessed him. Plunkett was also 
one of the most earnest workers for the Volunteers. A firm 
believer in the doctrine of physical force, he instinctively 
distrusted those who spoke of compromise or who were 
content with less than the absolute freeing of Ireland from all 
foreign interference. He was also thoroughly conversant with 
all things Irish and a keen student of military science. 

His volume of poems, "The Circle and the Sword,'* pub- 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 165 

lished in 1911 and dedicated to Thomas MacDonagh, contains 
much of the mysticism pecuHar to old GaeHc poetry. Al- 
though his style was merely in the formative stage, it can 
scarcely be doubted that, had he lived, his work would have 
belonged to the truly distinctive utterances of our generation. 
It has been already noticed how these young poets, who gave 
up their all that Ireland might resume her place among the 
other nations of the earth, reveal in their writings a premo- 
nition of their eventual fate. So it was with Plunkett. The 
thoughts, which he puts into words in "1867," are unmis- 
takable in their significance: 

All our best ye have branded. 

When the people were choosing them; 

When 'twas Death they demanded. 

Ye laughed. Ye were losing them. 

But the blood that ye spilt in the night 

Crieth loudly to God, 

And their name hath the strength and the might 

Of a sword for the sod. 

In the days of oiu* doom and our dread 

Ye were cruel and callous. 

Grim Death with our fighters ye fed 

Through the jaws of the gallows; 

But a blasting and blight was the fee 

For which ye had bartered them. 

And we smite with the sword that from ye 

We had gained when ye martyred them. 



CHAPTER XXVI 
Fighting Men and Heroes 

POSSIBLY the most picturesque of the other prominent 
figures of the Revolution was Major McBride, a man 
who had already shown his devotion to the cause of 
freedom. During the Boer war he led an Irish Brigade on 
the side of the Boer farmers, who were fighting the fight that 
the Irish had waged for centuries and against the same tyrant 
that was ever ready to plant her iron heel upon the aspirations 
of both for freedom. Even prior to this he had worked in 
Ireland and in the United States for the freedom of Ireland, 
and was able by his wide knowledge of military science to 
render valuable assistance to the men in the movement when 
the time came for the drilling and the arming of the Volun- 
teers. 

A strenuous advocate of armed rebellion, McBride would 
listen with amused indifference to any suggestion that the 
freedom of the country, even in a legislative sense, could be 
won by agitation in the British House of Commons. He 
threw over the Irish Parliamentary Party in 1895, believing 
that it was even then corrupted by British influence and 
British gold, and never entertained the slightest hope that 
even the emaciated Home Rule Bill would be put into opera- 
tion. All his thoughts were centered on the raising of an 
army that would drive the British out of the country, and 
he never wavered in his steadfast belief that this would 
eventually be accomplished — if not in this century, in the 
next. Of middle age, a little over medium height, and rather 
stoutly built, McBride presented an entire contrast to all the 
other leaders, except perhaps Connolly. He did not possess 
quite the same keen intellectual perception of the Gaelic ideal 
as did the others, but there was no question as to his knowl- 



THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 167 

edge of Irish history and his thorough insight into every 
angle of the poUtical situation. He loved his country, and 
his one desire was to be present at the striking of the final 
blow for her freedom. 

Of a very different type was Michael O'Hanrahan, a native 
of New Ross in Wexford. In losing O'Hanrahan, Ireland lost 
an author who would have given her youth many volumes of 
inspired romance if he had lived. He was of a retiring 
disposition, and spent a great deal of his time at home, 
reading far into the night books of Irish verse and Irish his- 
tory, romances of the Golden Age, and tales of the myths 
and legends of Eirinn. While copy reader in the office of a 
Dublin newspaper, O'Hanrahan became possessed of an 
ambition to write. He plunged into a course of study that 
developed his faculties and rapidly advanced him to the rank 
of a man of letters. From Arthur Griffith, the Editor of 
Sinn Fein, he received valuable assistance. For a time he 
contributed an article each week to Sinn Fein (under the 
pen-name of *' Martin"), in which he related the political 
gossip of the week in a humorous, conversational style. 
These articles showed a steady improvement in style and 
construction, and it was soon seen that the young writer had 
a bright future before him. 

It was O'Hanrahan's dearest ambition at this time to write 
a book, and he pondered seriously as to the subject he should 
select. Eventually, in 1914, he published an Irish historical 
romance entitled "A Swordsman of the Brigade," which met 
with a most flattering reception. As its name implies, it is a 
tale of the Wild Geese, and is a brilliant contribution to 
modern Irish fiction. 

O'Hanrahan was one of the first to join the Irish Volun- 
teers. At the inaugural meeting in the Rotunda in 1913 he 
was one of the stewards appointed to sign up recruits. He 
gave up a great deal of his literary work to drill and learn the 
art of soldiering. With the passing of time his enthusiasm 
became greater, and, as his proficiency increased, he was 
promoted from one rank to another, until he had gained a 



168 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

prominence that made him a marked man. At the time of 
the rising he was treasurer of the Arms' Fund and the most 
trusted man in the organization. 

Still another who rendered valuable assistance in the prepa- 
rations for the rebellion was William Pearse. Like his 
brother, he was born in Dublin of an English father and an 
Irish mother, and it is to their mother that the boys owed 
that devotion for Ireland which characterized their lives. 
William Pearse was the Art Master at St. Enda's School. 
He had inherited the genius of his father, who was a well- 
known sculptor, but his art differed from his father's in the 
new inspiration which he brought to it and which rendered 
it distinctive. There was a strong suggestion of the Gaelic 
in all his sculpture, even in those subjects which were not 
themselves Irish. His work soon began to attract attention 
at the various exhibitions where it was placed on view, and 
particularly at the Royal Hibernian Academy in Dublin. 
One of his finest works was his "Mater Dolorosa," which 
was given the place of honor in the Mortuary Chapel in St. 
Andrew's Church, Westland Row, Dublin. He was already 
winning recognition in the critical art circles of Europe, when 
he sacrificed his art to serve his country. 

Like his brother, William was Irish of the Irish. He joined 
the Volunteers at the same time as his brother, and was even 
more enthusiastic in his attendance at drills and his study of 
military science. He spent hours in the drill halls, teaching 
and inspiring the men, and he was loved by all with whom he 
came into contact. His youthful energy was tremendous, and 
he seemed able to accomplish as much work as any other two 
men. A quiet and unassuming youth, he had all the reserve 
and all the genial qualities that made his brother loved and 
trusted and respected by his comrades. 

Of the others, Daly and Colbert and Heuston and Mallon, 
much the same is to be said. They were young men who 
had, by their devotion to their work, risen to posts of responsi- 
bility in the Volunteers. They were all men of sincerity and 
purity of motive — men whom any nation might be proud to 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 169 

call her sons. In almost every instance they had just 
attained the full bloom of manhood, and were men who would 
certainly have won eminence in their various callings, had 
they not been singled out for a nobler fate. It is extremely 
difficult to speak of these men in a calmly critical manner, 
such as is expected of a writer who endeavors to depict the 
history of any set period. It is difficult to speak of friends 
and companions as so many pawns on a chessboard, when one's 
knowledge of the motives that moved them to action is 
personal and direct. Of the stuff that heroes are made of, 
with souls set above the earth and the things of the earth, 
they followed the path of duty to its last demand, intent only 
on relighting the torch of liberty which England had ex- 
tinguished in their land. 

In their everyday actions they gave little evidence of 
possessing the germs of heroism. They were all quiet men, 
little given to talk or display. They knew there were thou- 
sands who were as ready as they to make the supreme sacrifice 
when it was demanded. But to them fell the lot of leading 
the van, of showing the way to their followers, and of paying 
the extreme penalty always exacted from patriots in the 
event of defeat. They knew, as did every man in the Volun- 
teers, that they were running the risk of imprisonment or 
death at the hands of the defender of the liberties of small 
nations, even if they survived the fight. 

All of them were workers — whether in the college, the 
office, or the store. When their day's work was done, they 
would repair to the drill hall or to the place of meeting, and 
would there take their places as drill masters, officers, or 
wherever their duty called them. They were not men who 
had been selected to lead a nation, but men who stepped into 
the line when the call came for action. Some of them were 
scarcely known outside their immediate circle of acquaintance, 
yet they were marked men, owing to the fact that the;^ had 
always taken their stand on the one and only platform 
possible for an Irish Nationalist — absolute and complete 
independence for Ireland. The mere fact that they had not 



170 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

been prominent in the political arena is significant. They 
were men of the people in every sense of the word. Plain, 
straightforward, and serious, they were not swayed either by 
the fanaticism of the moment nor by the pressure of precedent. 
They took their stand where they did because they believed 
it was the only honorable thing that an Irishman could do 
under the circumstances. They had joined the Volunteers 
owing to the conviction that in a national military organiza- 
tion lay Ireland's only chance to escape betrayal at the hands 
of her perjured representatives and later the danger of being 
engulfed in a war in which she had no interest. These men 
were not to be led astray by the sleek promises of a Govern- 
ment that had ever mocked at the dearest hopes of the Irish 
people. They were ready to accept any genuine measure of 
Home Rule as a foundation for the regaining of Ireland's 
freedom, but they refused to barter their nationality for the 
promise of a mess of pottage. 



CHAPTER XXVII 

The Women of the Nation 

IN dealing with the work of the women of the Revolution, 
pride of place must necessarily be given to the Countess 
Markievicz. A daughter of Lady Gore-Booth of Lisa- 
dell, County Sligo, Constance Gore-Booth was reared in an 
atmosphere peculiarly hostile to Irish nationality. The story 
is told that her mother, with a strange hatred of all things 
Irish, had all the clocks in the Manor House set to English 
time. Constance later escaped from this stultifying atmos- 
phere, when, developing a talent for painting, she went to 
Paris to study art. Here she met and married, in 1900, 
Count Casimir Markievicz. After her marriage she returned 
to Ireland, and finally settled down with her husband in 
Dublin. Despite all the attractions of Castle society, she 
felt herself irresistibly drawn into another group, whose hall- 
mark was intellect, whose blue blood was that of the Gael, 
and whose magic circle was bound around with youth and 
talent and love and hope for Ireland a Nation. 

For some years she was one of the most picturesque figures 
in the national life of Dublin, and gave unstintingly of her 
time, her sympathies, and her means to the cause. With 
Bulmer Hobson she founded, in 1909, the Irish Boy Scouts 
(Fianna na hEirinn), for she believed that, the younger a 
boy was when he dedicated his life to Ireland, the more he 
would have to give her, and that in the hearts and hands of 
her youth lay the destinies of Eirinn. 

The boys worshiped her, and she spent night after night in 
the hall in Camden steet, helping to drill them, holding up 
to them as patterns the mighty Fianna of old with their boy 
hero, Fionn MacCumhal — Fionn of the perfect soul and the 
consummate wisdom, of whose glowing beauty Oisin sang. 



172 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

Their boyish hearts stirred by the hero tales, they responded 
gladly to the teaching and the training of the enthusiastic 
and dashing woman, who taught them that they must be 
like the Fianna, strong of limb and fleet of foot, cultured and 
chivalrous, keenly intellectual and ever noble in principle. 
She declared to them on one occasion, "Remember, boys, 
no Fian ever turned his back on his foes, no Fian ever told 
a lie." 

When they camped out in the misty Dublin mountains 
above the "blue of Dublin Bay," she too was there. She 
accompanied them on their marches; and many a Sunday 
morning, when the crowds were on their homeward way from 
the last Mass along the Phibsboro Road and streams of 
visitors flowed towards Glasnevin, the wild music of Irish 
war pipes would suddenly fill the air, and around Doyle's 
Corner, with green, white, and orange banners flying, would 
sweep the Fianna na hEirinn, clad in saffron kilts. A tall, 
straight, slender woman, with a soft felt hat strapped firmly 
under her chin and bright green 'kerchief knotted around her 
neck, might be seen marching proudly at their head. A 
momentary pause, a flash of something white, and on the 
first lamp-post would appear an anti-recruiting bill, placed 
there by a practiced hand — the hand of Countess Markievicz. 
Then off they would go again, the pipes shrieking "The 
Dawning of the Day." 

In 1913, during the months of the Dublin strikes, she 
played an important part in alleviating distress in the city. 
She attended personally to the cooking and the preparation 
of the meals given out at Liberty Hall to the strikers and 
their families. Many a morning, long before eight o'clock, a 
figure on a bicycle would sweep swiftly around the old Houses 
of Parliament, down over O'Connell Bridge, and along Eden 
Quay to Liberty Hall. It was the Countess hurrying to get 
breakfast for her comrades, the working men of Dublin. 

One Friday afternoon in August, when the excitement was 
at its height, Jim Larkin announced that on the following 
Sunday, at one o'clock in the afternoon, he would address a 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 173 

public meeting in O'Connell Street. On Saturday morning 
the meeting was proclaimed, and a warrant issued for the 
arrest of Larkin. But Jim Larkin was nowhere to be found; 
he had disappeared. A strange undercurrent of expectancy 
thrilled Dublin that evening; an indescribable feeling that 
something was going to happen. Rumors of all kinds were 
circulated, but one persisted, namely that, in spite of the 
proclamation and the warrant for his arrest, Jim Larkin would 
address the meeting. 

Sunday morning came, gracious and soft as a typical Irish 
morning. Between nine and ten o'clock a body of men 
marched out of the city to Fairview. They were the members 
of the Citizen Army, and the attention of the police was 
focused on them immediately. As the morning wore on, the 
churches emptied themselves of their large congregations, and 
between twelve and one o'clock O'Connell Street was thronged 
with laughing, good-natured people. Most of them were 
making their way home from Mass, but some of them lingered, 
wondering if Larkin would keep his word. 

In company with some friends, the writer was turning from 
Middle Abbey Street into O'Connell Street when a jaunting 
car dashed by. Sitting on it were the Countess Markievicz 
and Francis Sheehy-Skeffington. They stopped at the door 
of the Imperial Hotel, and the attention of the passing crowds 
seemed suddenly to center around them, when out upon a 
balcony of the hotel stepped a tall, grave, and bearded gentle- 
man in morning attire beyond reproach. Bowing graciously 
to the assembled people, he removed his shining silk hat and 
impressive beard. And then a cheer went up — a cheer that 
might have been heard for miles. Jim Larkin had kept his word. 

In a second, O'Connell Street became the scene of the 
wildest confusion. Out of Prince's Street, where they had 
been lined up in waiting, dashed the police with their batons. 
Right and left they charged, caring not whom they struck. 
Men, women, and children were knocked down and beaten. 
Men were clubbed to death, and O'Connell Street was red 
with the blood of defenseless people. 



174 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

That was another Bloody Sunday to be stored in Ireland's 
memory. 

On the following Wednesday the men murdered by the 
poHce were buried in Glasnevin. The funeral was an impres- 
sive demonstration of public feeling. The bodies were taken 
to the Pro-Cathedral, where special services were held, the 
streets being lined with indignant people. The most striking 
feature of the funeral was the army of working men and 
women who attended. Many processions have been held in 
Dublin, — language parades and pageants that, voicing the 
warmth and color of Irish-Ireland, set one's heart to beat 
at a quickened pace, — but Dublin never before witnessed 
anything so impressive as these hosts of working men and 
women that went marching, marching, interminably marching 
past in silent tribute to their dead. Alongside of them a car 
moved slowly. On it were the Count and Countess Markie- 
vicz. The Countess was in white, but against her white 
dress lay a large wreath, scarlet like blood. 

In the Rotunda, at the Aonach and during the week of the 
Oireachtas, the Countess was a prominent figure, particularly 
in the Art Section, where her training and artistic talent made 
her assistance invaluable. Sometimes she would sell Sinn 
Fein pamphlets, or pictures of Tone and Emmet at the Sinn 
Fein stall; and again she would be found with her beloved 
boys of the Fianna. In her own home she was a charming 
hostess. She loved to gather around her the young and 
gifted who were helping to make Ireland a Nation, and to 
those who were privileged to be present at these gatherings 
they will remain forever a fragrant and inspiring memory. 

Closely associated with the Countess in all her work for 
Ireland was her intimate friend, Helena Moloney. She was 
a retiring and quiet girl who could, when the occasion de- 
manded it, become as aggressive and as determined as she 
was ordinarily shy and modest. Helena served many jail 
sentences in Dublin, prior to and after the outbreak of the 
war, for speeches made in the public streets against recruiting. 
Helena and the Countess were two of the hardest workers 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 175 

during the visit of King George of England to Dublin in 1911. 
Both of them made the round of the city night after night, 
speaking on street corners and appealing to the people to 
show to the English monarch the true spirit of the people of 
Ireland. On all these occasions the Union Jack was burned 
amid the cheers of the people, and the police were powerless 
to interfere. Although the treatment given her in jail broke 
down her health little by little, she persevered with her task, 
each sentence serving but to strengthen her determination to 
carry on the work to the end. 

There were scores of other women who did splendid work 
before the Rebellion, and took their stand with the men when 
the Flag of Irish Freedom was hoisted over the Irish Capital. 
From women and girls of trained intellect to the daughters 
of the very poorest, the women of Dublin answered nobly to 
the call of freedom. That the conduct of the British soldiers 
in the city during the years preceding the Rebellion fanned 
the indignation of Irish women against England goes without 
saying; and it is a notable fact that for the first time in the 
history of Ireland, since the siege of Limerick, the Irish women 
rose in a body to combat the power of England and take part 
in the battle for liberty. 

None of the women are more deserving of praise than the 
working girls and women of the city. Girls employed at 
Jacob's Biscuit Works and at other places in the city rallied 
to the call and did magnificent work. They had been well 
trained and well organized long before the rising. They 
showed a wonderful aptitude for the tasks assigned to them, 
and spent many hours every evening learning their parts — 
to act as Red Cross nurses, as special messengers, and in a 
score of other capacities that enabled them to be of supreme 
service in the hour when they were needed. 

These girls had the best of reasons for taking part in the 
rebellion. At the time of the strikes in Dublin during 1913 
they had been subjected to every indignity that could be 
heaped on them. Working long hours for a mere pittance, 
they proved that their spirit had survived, that in spite of 



176 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

the drudgery to which they were subjected they were still 
capable of asserting the rights that were theirs. 

Another section that did fine work was the organization 
known as the Cumann na mBan, or Irish Women's Council. 
Mrs. Thomas Clarke, wife of the leader of the Irish Revolu- 
tionary Brotherhood, was one of the most active workers in 
this body, and she was ably assisted by many other well- 
known women of Dublin, including Mrs. Eoin MacNeill, 
Helena Moloney, and the Countess Markievicz. Mrs. Clarke, 
Mrs. MacNeill, and Mrs. Gill were women of social standing 
who were the mothers of families, and who had every reason 
to be satisfied with the positions they held, but they were 
unable to resist the call of the country. 

These women not only took up the study of Red Cross 
work, but also learned much of the art of the soldier. They 
belonged to a militant organization, and were not content 
to take a passive part in the work. They met every evening 
at their headquarters, where they learned to shoot and march, 
and many of them became crack shots with the revolver and 
the rifle. In addition, every member learned the mechanism 
of the weapons, with the result that they were able to be of 
valuable assistance to the men. The part that they played 
in the actual fighting showed the thoroughness of the drilling 
they went through for many months before the rising. 

In one other way, also, these women were of the greatest 
assistance to the men. At the inaugural meeting of the 
Volunteers in 1913 a special appeal was made to the women 
for cooperation. There were many women at that meeting, 
and, when the meeting was over, these women made arrange- 
ments to form an organization to supplement the work of the 
men. This was the beginning of the Cumann na mBan. It 
was first intended that the members should take up the work 
of collecting funds for the purchase of rifles and ammunition for 
the Volunteers. They carried on this work for many months, 
but gradually developed into a militant organization of their 
own. These women were instrumental in collecting a large 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 177 

sum of money for the arming of the men, and they also 
armed themselves. In view of the manner in which the 
British soldiers in Dublin had acted towards the women of 
the city, it was recognized that, rebellion apart, every girl 
and woman of Dublin should possess a gun and the ability 
to use it in an emergency. 



CHAPTER XXVIII 

Thinkers and Men 

ONE of the most interesting personalities in public life 
in Ireland for many years was Arthur Griffith. 
While he took no active part in the rising, his work 
during the years which preceded it was such that it is almost 
impossible to overestimate his influence on the Irish people. 
The manner in which he was treated by the British Govern- 
ment immediately after the surrender shows that the English 
officials were well aware of the part he had played. Of 
medium height, square build, and great muscular development, 
and with a finely developed head, Griffith was a man of 
commanding appearance, who impressed one immediately as 
a man of keen intellect. Quiet and very reserved in the 
presence of strangers, he was kindly Irish of the Irish in his 
home. One had indeed to know him intimately to appreciate 
the true worth of the man. Few men in Dublin had so great 
a knowledge of Irish history and literature as Griffith, and he 
was, in addition, an able politician, if we use the term in its 
true sense, and not in the sinister meaning which it has 
acquired in Ireland during the past decade. 

Griffith spent many years in South Africa, working in the 
Transvaal diamond mines, but, even during this period, he 
kept in close touch with Irish affairs, and was a contributor 
to the Shan Van Vocht. He possessed a natural talent for 
writing, and had a terse and vigorous style that made a 
direct appeal to his readers. He was thus able to make good 
use of his knowledge of history, and of his genius for statistics 
and analysis which lent such power to his writings. 

On his return to Ireland he took up the editorship of The 
United Irishman, and made it one of the most widely read 



THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 179 

papers in the country. His editorial articles attracted almost 
universal attention, while his criticisms of the Irish Parlia- 
mentary Party caused no little uneasiness to its leaders. 
A libel action, however, put an end to the paper, but, as has 
frequently happened in the annals of Irish journalism, the 
paper was discontinued for a very short period, only to reap- 
pear as Sinn Fein. 

GriflBth now propounded his Sinn Fein policy. After a 
close study of general history, he finally became particularly 
interested in the histories of Poland, Finland, and Hungary. 
So keen did his interest in Hungary become that he issued a 
lengthy pamphlet entitled "The Resurrection of Hungary," 
which enjoyed a tremendous popularity and which contained 
a telling object-lesson for the people of Ireland. This paved 
the way for the Sinn Fein policy, and, when Griffith made 
his famous speech detailing the various points of that policy, 
the result was electrical. Praise and ridicule were heaped 
upon the policy and its author, but the practicability of the 
plan was seen by a large number of men who immediately 
identified themselves with the new movement. "Sinn Fein" 
became a battle-cry throughout the country, and, as has 
already been shown, many of the brightest spirits of the 
younger generation of Irishmen flocked to the new standard. 

It had always been one of Griffith's ideals to establish a 
daily paper in Ireland along national lines. Up to 1909 the 
only papers that could be called truly national were weekly, 
the others being merely professional political organs. In 
1909 Griffith established Sinn Fein, bringing out the paper 
every afternoon with all the news of the country and cable 
news from abroad. The first issue was dated Tuesday, 
August 24, and its appearance was heralded by throngs in 
the streets in the vicinity of Middle Abbey Street, where the 
paper was published. The paper was eagerly bought up by 
the people, and the first issue was sold almost as soon as it 
had been run off the press. The paper was printed on Irish 
paper with Irish ink, and was Irish in every line of its make- 
up. The Editorial, entitled "Ourselves," was as follows: 



180 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

We give the Nation to-day a daily journal. The parties in Ire- 
land have their organs — the Nation hitherto has had none. We 
support the policy of Sinn Fein, because we are convinced that of 
the policies before this country it is the most effective. But we 
do not confound the policy with the Nation. Sinn Fein is not the 
Nation. Parliamentarianism is not the Nation, Unionism is not the 
Nation — all are but weapons offered to the Nation; and, by their 
effectiveness in the Nation's service, they must be judged and re- 
tained or discarded. The Nation belongs exclusively to none of us. 
Nationalists or Unionists, Catholics or Protestants, rich or poor — 
it belongs to us all, and it is greater than us all. The party comes 
and goes — the Nation remains for ever. The quarrels of the par- 
ties of the past in Ireland are of no living account to us to-day. 
What we now ask about past movements is what they achieved for 
the Nation. What our children will ask about the movements of 
to-day will be the same question. It will be of no more interest to 
them than the passing breeze whether Sinn Fein scored a point over 
Parliamentarianism, or whether Parliamentarianism scored a point 
over Unionism. What victories did they win for the Nation? That 
is the question they will ask, and by the reply we shall be judged. 
How did the parties in Ireland in 1909 make Ireland — the Ireland 
of us all — happier, freer, stronger, more prosperous and more re- 
spected.'' In 1929 that is all the people of Ireland will be interested 
in knowing about our parties of to-day. In your hearts, fellow- 
countrymen, you know this to be true. 

Parnell never said a wiser thing than that Ireland could not spare 
the services of a single one of her sons and daughters. Ireland is 
poor and weak; her enemies are strong and powerful. Any policy 
that would prevent an Irishman or an Irishwoman working for his 
or her country's good, is a policy that must tend to keep Ireland 
poor and weak. That intolerance has been the sin of nearly all 
parties in Ireland, is a fact none of us can deny. That this intoler- 
ance has cost Ireland the services of thousands of her best men, is 
a fact we aflfirm. So fatuous a policy will never be ours. We recog- 
nize that the people of Ireland as a whole, whatever their party, 
whatever their creed, whatever their class may be, are at least as 
patriotic as the people of the thriving nations. We recognize that 
the great mass of those who support Parliamentarianism or Union- 
ism are as honest in their belief and as sincere in their desire to 
serve Ireland as their brethren who support the Sinn Fein policy. 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 181 

Were we to believe otherwise we would believe that the bulk of the 
Irish people cared nothing for their country — and no one who knows 
Ireland could believe so base a thing. Behind all the fierceness, 
bitterness, and intolerance of party lies a deep and passionate pa- 
triotism, and it is that patriotism to which we appeal — to which 
we shall give an articulate organ — on which we shall rebuild, in the 
manly love of comrades, the Nation. 

In a sentence, reversing the custom that has long prevailed in our 
public affairs, we shall seek to find points of agreement and not 
points of difference, and we shall support every honest effort and 
give full credit to our countrymen of other political parties for all 
the work they perform for the common good. We shall refuse to 
regard any Irish party as our enemies. They may be our opponents 

— they shall not be our enemies. Our enemies are those who govern, 
and misgovern, this country against the will of its people — not any 
section of our own countrymen. 

We pledge ourselves to-day to support every man and every party 

— however divergent their opinions may be from ours on other 
points — in any work to the credit and honor of oiu- common Na- 
tion, and to defend the right of the man who disagrees with us on 
one point to be heard on the other nine. Ireland again a Nation has 
been the dream of generations; it will never be a fact until we all 

— whether our party color be orange, green, or blue — realize that 
we are Irishmen before we are party men. We believe that sincere 
men of all parties — and the sincere men are a great majority in every 
Irish party — are realizing this to-day; that the old evil and absurd 
policy of driving men out of public life because they cannot sub- 
scribe to all the tenets of the predominant party is dying, and that 
the ideal of Thomas Davis — an Ireland in which its people, differ- 
ing widely in policy and methods, are united in the love and service 
of their country — is growing in the minds of men on both sides of 
the Boyne. We are here to realize that ideal, and we claim the sup- 
port of all our countrymen in the work we have undertaken. 

This declaration of policy shows GriflSth as he really was 
better than many pages of appreciation might do. We have 
already shown how his paper was suppressed during the war, 
and how he kept up the fight by publishing one periodical after 
another to tell the men and the women of Ireland the true 
facts of the situation. That he played a large and an im- 



182 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

portant part in the subsequent events cannot be denied. He 
educated the people of Ireland, and brought about a revival 
of the old spirit of self-reliance and patriotism. He believed 
firmly that the final appeal would have to be to force of 
arms, but he also believed that this, in order to be successful, 
must be founded on a firm educational basis, and it was to 
this foundation that he directed all his efforts. 

There is one other man whom we should consider in this 
chapter, as being somewhat akin to Griffith. This is Eoin 
MacNeill, the leader of the Irish Volunteers up to the time of 
the Rebellion, and a man who was more or less directly 
responsible for their formation. A man of striking appearance 
and brilliant intellect, he devoted all his energies to Ireland 
and her freedom, and, whatever may be the explanation of 
the tragic error that will forever be associated with his name, 
the fact remains that his actions were sincere and his motives 
were of the highest. 

He also was deeply versed in the history and the traditions 
of his country, and thoroughly imbued with the spirit of the 
Gael. He first entered public life as Vice-President of the 
Gaelic League, of which he was the real founder, and later 
became associated with the official organ of the League, An 
Cleadheamh Soluis. In this paper, during the year 1913, 
MacNeill wrote a number of articles drawing attention to the 
manner in which Carson's Volunteers were spreading, and 
suggesting that a meeting be called for the purpose of forming 
the Irish Volunteers. He presided at the meeting in the 
Rotunda Rink, and became the first President of the Volun- 
teers. He was indefatigable in his work for the Volunteers, 
and edited their official organ, The Volunteer, in the pages of 
which, from the beginning of the war until the suppression of 
the paper, he advocated a policy of staying at home and 
vigorously denounced the attempts made to force Irishmen 
into the British army. While the Government was doing 
everything in its power to inflame the Irish people, MacNeill 
was one of its most caustic critics. Especially caustic was his 
criticism of the manner in which the Defense of the Re9,lm 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 183 

Act was carried out by the British authorities. As affording 
an insight into MacNeiU's views and into the anomalous 
condition of Ireland, the following article written by MacNeill 
in The Volunteer of September, 1915, is interesting. 

General Friend, the responsible military authority in Ireland, had 
only a limited knowledge of civil and political affairs in Ireland. To 
supply the defect, Mr. Birrell placed one of his subordinates, Mr. 
Price, a county inspector of police, at the General's disposal. In 
this way Mr. Birrell ceased to be responsible, and to care two straws 
for anything that Mr. Price, now Major Price, may advise to be 
done. General Friend cannot well go behind the advice of Major 
Price, his Intelligence Officer, since without the Major the General 
would be without intelligence. The Major, for his part, refuses in 
court to go behind what the General does on the Major's advice. 
The Crown explains in court that "there was the parallel of the 
Dictator in ancient Roman history." It is not a bad parallel for 
the champions of liberty and nationality in the twentieth century. 
The Dictator of Ireland is evidently the gallant Major, who has 
reached his military honors by a short way from Tipperary, where 
he completed his qualifications in "intelligence" as a pohce inspector 
under Mr. Birrell. The General is naturally dependent on whatever 
advice the Major wishes to dictate. The Major is Dictator, with 
full power over the liberty of the subject. 

The Major, having advised the General, who would be acting in 
the dark without the Major's intelligence, admits in court that "the 
miUtary authorities," the Dictator and the General, "are responsible 
to the Nation." The Nation Once Again — the Irish-Scottish- Welsh- 
Enghsh nation. "There never was a Defense of the Realm Act 
passed before," says Major Price to the court. That is true. Never 
until we got Home Rule on the Statute Book, was it in the power, 
of one policeman to consign Irishmen to banishment without even 
stating the evidence in court. "What that evidence was I am not 
going to tell you," is the Dictator's own statement. Formerly, 
when there was no evidence, it required at least the hard swearing 
of two police witnesses to destroy an Irishman's liberty. Now that 
we have Home Rule on the Statute Book we have changed all that, 
and it is a change for the better. It obviates hard swearing, which, 
however necessary, is never pleasant. The Defense of the Realm 
Act makes for veracity. 



CHAPTER XXIX 

The Irish in America 

ONE of the essential components of the American people, 
using the term in its modern sense, is the Gael. The 
Irish have made their mark on the history of the 
United States, have secured positions of power and influence, 
and have thrown their racial characteristics into the melt- 
ing pot, out of which has been produced the American 
mind and the new American nation. Driven from their 
homeland by a system of Government that made personal 
freedom impossible, the Irish emigrated to America in mil- 
lions. At first, like other immigrants, most of them had to 
content themselves with the more laborious tasks, while the 
police and fire departments of the great and small cities 
absorbed thousands of them. But with the dead weight of 
foreign oppression removed from their shoulders and the 
opportunity of education and advancement presenting itself, 
the Gael rapidly rose to positions of affluence and influence. 
From the days when the young nation had tested its 
strength with the oppressor of Ireland and America alike, the 
Irish in America had proven their loyalty to the land of their 
adoption. When the time came for action, they were ready 
to shed their blood for America. Their American patriotism 
was pure and unselfish, just as their devotion was true and 
unselfish to the land of their birth. It was this loyalty to an 
ideal, to a national ideal and to a patriotic instinct, that 
made the Irish in America often more American than the 
Americans themselves. The Irish had learned great lessons, 
and had profited by them. They loved America because 
America granted to them that liberty which a foreign power 
denied them in their own land. 



THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 185 

Yet back of it all and deep down in his soul the Gael 
remained true to Ireland. That little island three thousand 
miles away exercised a fascination that no Irishman was able 
to resist. True, he might at times forget. There were times 
when events were pressing in the new country, when the 
stress of living or the excitement of adventure led his thoughts 
away from his native land. But they never failed to return. 
A chance meeting with a friend, a line in a newspaper, and 
there would again flash across his mental vision that old 
dream of Ireland a Nation. It was owing to this that he was 
so proudly jealous of the liberties and the rights of the 
American nation, in the building of whose fortunes he had 
played no insignificant part. His love and enthusiasm were 
not divided. He stood for liberty, whether in America or in 
Ireland, in Poland or Hungary. Those who had sought to 
deprive him of what he believed the birthright of every man 
and woman and child, had made of him a disciple to carry 
the doctrine of human liberty into every corner of the earth. 

The story of the formation of the Fenian Brotherhood in 
America has already been briefly told in these pages. That 
organization was the banding together of Irishmen of all 
creeds and all parties for the purpose of freeing Ireland. 
Through varying degrees of fortune that organization retained 
its ideals, which were never anything less than the complete 
emancipation of Ireland from the rule of the foreigner. To-day 
the I. R. B. is what it was on the first day of the formation 
of the Emmet Memorial Committee. It grew rapidly in the 
years preceding the Rebellion, and was the leading Irish 
republican organization in America. The men in Dublin 
and the men of the I. R. B. in America were one in their 
ideals; they were men of a common organization, and were 
actuated by the same desire. Had it been possible for the 
men of the I. R. B. in America to have traveled to Dublin 
before the rising, they would have been found shoulder to 
shoulder with Clarke, Pearse, The O'Rahilly, and their col- 
leagues. Ireland could have enrolled a far greater "foreign 
legion*' than fought for the Allies in France. 



186 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

At the same time the I. R. B. did not represent a majority 
of the Irish in America at the time of the outbreak of the war 
in Europe. Knowing how fruitful a field America has always 
been for the collection of money, Redmond and his colleagues 
made the most strenuous efforts to hold the attention of the 
people on this side of the Atlantic concentrated on his Home 
Rule campaign, and he was able to do this with so much 
success that many billions of dollars were subscribed by the 
Irish people here in order to enable him to keep up the fight. 
In the later stages of his campaign this money was used for 
the purpose of buying public opinion on both sides of the 
Atlantic, in subsidizing newspapers, particularly the degenerate 
Freeman's Journal of Dublin, the official organ of the party, 
and The Irish News of Belfast, which existed for the purpose 
of keeping Joseph Devlin prominent in the eye of the public. 

Among the staunchest of Redmond's supporters on this 
side of the Atlantic were the members of the Ancient Order of 
Hibernians. One of the largest Irish organizations in the 
United States, it was able to mold public opinion in this 
country any way that Mr. Redmond wanted it. The A. O. H. 
was consistently in favor of the Parliamentary Party right up 
to the outbreak of the war. It was instrumental in collecting 
a great deal of the money that was sent to Mr. Redmond 
from America, for it always believed that the Home Rule 
cause would win out, and that by it Ireland would gain her 
freedom. 

Another influence that Redmond was able to wield in 
America was The Irish World newspaper, perhaps the most 
powerful force in Irish- American circles. Under the leadership 
of Patrick Ford, one of the most sincere Irishmen in America, 
The Irish World was able to supply more money to the 
Parliamentary Party than any other single agency. Its 
columns were open year after year to the constantly recurring 
appeals made by Redmond for money. In the sincere belief 
that he was acting for the best, Patrick Ford appealed to the 
thousands of readers of his paper to support the Party, and 
these appeals never fell on deaf ears. 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 187 

Mention should also be made of the San Francisco Leadety 
edited by Father Yorke, which had always been an advocate 
of the physical force and Sinn Fein movements. The Leader 
was one of the few newspapers that did not believe in Red- 
mond, but which was still anxious to give him every oppor- 
tunity of carrying out his promises. The Leader and a 
number of other weekly papers wielded an influence in the 
country that was by no means negligible. These papers had 
a large following of readers, who were either suspicious of the 
good faith of Redmond or were giving him the benefit of the 
doubt for the time being. 

With the outbreak of the war Redmond became a recruiting 
sergeant for the Empire. The effect in America was striking 
and instantaneous. Led by The Irish World, the vast major- 
ity of Redmond's followers deserted him. Knowing the record 
of the British Army in Ireland, they were unable to under- 
stand how any Irish leader could appeal to the young men of 
Ireland to don the uniform of the men who had, only a few 
days previously, murdered Irish men and women in the streets 
of Dublin, even had there not been a long list of crimes of 
the most brutal nature to be charged up against EngHsh 
soldiers in earlier years. Redmond overestimated his in- 
fluence when he thought he could sway the Irish of America 
to a concurrence with his plans. He found that they were 
still Irish, and still remained true to the traditions of their 
country. 

The defection of The Irish World was the first blow that 
the "recruiting sergeant" received. He retaliated by getting 
the British Government to have the paper proclaimed through- 
out Ireland and an order issued prohibiting it being imported 
into Ireland. By these means Redmond probably hoped he 
would be able to keep the people from knowing the true 
sentiment of the Irish in America. In this he was disap- 
pointed, owing to the fact that the new editor of the paper, 
Robert E. Ford, son of Patrick Ford, who had succeeded his 
father in the management of the paper on the death of the 
former, found ways and means of getting the paper to the 



188 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

Irish people. Needless to say, Redmond was also unable to 
prevent the paper being sold to the Irish people in America, 
and The Irish World was able to do yeoman service in expos- 
ing the facts of the situation to the people of this country. 
The paper conducted a vigorous campaign against the recruit- 
ing policy, and later, when the proposals were made and 
accepted by Redmond for the partition of Ireland as a further 
sop to the English Tories, The Irish World was one of the 
most bitter opponents of the scheme. 

Following immediately after the change made by The Irish 
World, the Ancient Order of Hibernians in America transferred 
its allegiance. National President Joseph McLaughlin came 
out in an uncompromising manner against Redmond. In the 
course of a letter to The Irish World on March 27, 1915, he 
stated his views, saying that ninety per cent of the Hibernians 
were against recruiting. He added that he was expressing 
the practically unanimous opinion of the Order of which he 
was the President. His letter ran in part; 

The work of Ireland cannot be done by shedding Irish blood under 
the British flag, in a cause which does not concern either the honor 
or the safety of Ireland or her people either at home or abroad. 
. . . The recruiting policy is treason. It cannot deceive, however 
cunningly masked, the thinking majority of the race who remember 
that the nation which enforced the Penal Laws against Catholics, 
which forced the Ancient Order of Hibernians out into the moun- 
tains to defend the priest and the schoolmaster, which kept the 
masses in poverty and ignorance, which "rooted out" millions in a 
single century, is the same nation which now seeks to whistle them 
back with vague promises and asks them to "save the Empire"! 
It is not a part of the duty of the Ancient Order of Hibernians to 
"save the Empire." But it is its duty to save the young men of 
Ireland for the mothers and wives at home. The only words that real 
Hibernians can fervently utter at this time are the words that were 
first defiantly spoken on an English scaffold — "God Save Ireland." 

The defection of the Hibernians was followed by similar 
action on the part of many other organizations, with the 
result that before the end of the first year of the war ninety- 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 189 

five per cent of the Irish in America were united in a common 
bond against the betrayal of Ireland. There were a few who 
remained with Redmond, but they dwindled day by day, as 
the news came of one betrayal of principle after another. 

This union of the various sections of Irish opinion in 
America, at the time when the same thing was taking place in 
Ireland, is one of the most significant features of the situation. 
It demonstrated, better than anything else could do, the fact 
that the vast majority of the Irish people at home and abroad 
were not in favor of Great Britain or her recruiting sergeant. 
One of the finest results of the union of parties in America 
was the holding of the First Annual Convention of the Irish 
Race in America at the Hotel Astor, New York City, in 
March, 1916. This convention was attended by over 2000 
delegates from all parts of the country, and resolutions were 
unanimously adopted, declaring for the freedom of Ireland, 
denouncing the Parliamentary Party for its betrayal, and 
asking the assistance of neutral nations in securing for Ireland 
a place at the Peace Conference when it met to end the war. 
Following this Convention a new organization was formed, 
known as the Friends of Irish Freedom, which spread with 
lightning-like rapidity throughout America. A few weeks 
later the men had risen in Dublin in another effort to win 
the liberty of Ireland. 

This brief and necessarily incomplete sketch of the activities 
of the Irish in America is suflScient to show that the Irish 
here were not in sympathy with Redmond, who, from the 
time he became a recruiting sergeant for the British Empire, 
was denounced from one end of the country to the other. 
Redmond was dead so far as America was concerned, without 
the faintest hope of being ever again able to win back even 
a shadow of his former power. The Irish in America were 
interested in the liberty of Ireland, and not in the salvation 
of the British Empire. 



CHAPTER XXX 

Sir Roger Casement 

AS each phase of the history of the Irish Rebellion of 
1916 is considered, it becomes increasingly difficult 
to treat of the subject within any set limits. The 
case of Sir Roger Casement might well be a stot-y to itself. 
The part which he played in the Rebellion and the manner 
of his trial and final martyrdom render him of particular 
interest to the student of Irish history. His striking person- 
ality, his pure and noble patriotism, his simple love for his 
country, and his devotion to the cause of humanity will rank 
him among the most striking figures in the history of his 
century. 

From his first appearance in public life his career was a 
notable one. Born in County Antrim of English Protestant 
parents on September 1, 1864, he received a full course of 
university education, and began his diplomatic career with 
his appointment to the Niger Coast Oil Rivers Protectorate 
on July 31, 1892. On June 27, 1893, he was appointed Consul 
in the Portuguese Province of Lorenzo Marquez, and on 
July 29, 1898, Consul for the Portuguese Possessions of West 
Africa, south of the GuK of Guinea. 

His services in these capacities were such that during the 
war in South Africa he was engaged on special service in 
Cape Town in 1899 and again in 1900, and was rewarded, on 
the conclusion of the war, by the decoration of the Queen s 
Medal. On August 20, 1900, he was transferred to the 
Congo State, and was appointed, in addition, on August 6, 
1901, Consul for part of the French Congo Colony. His work 
in the Congo was instrumental in revealing the atrocities that 
the Belgian Government was committing in its anxiety to 
collect the rubber with which that region abounded. His 



THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 191 

knowledge of the facts that shocked the civilized world had 
a great deal to do with the attitude he took when the cry 
of "violated Belgium" was made the excuse for England's 
declaration of war on Germany, for he felt that any punish- 
ment meted out to Belgium would be mild chastisement for 
a nation that had been responsible for the mutilation and 
murder of countless men, women, and children in its mad 
anxiety for money. At the time of the disclosures England 
had denounced these atrocities, as the volume entitled "Red 
Rubber," published by Morel, attests; but later events demon- 
strated that the main purpose of England's denunciation was 
her anxiety to control the rubber industry for her own profit. 

On Jime 30, 1905, Casement was rewarded for his services 
by being made a Commander of the Order of St. Michael and 
St. George, and on August 13, 1906, he was appointed Consul 
for the State of San Paolo, with a residence at Santos. On 
December 1, 1908, he was promoted to Consul General at 
Rio de Janeiro, and on June 20, 1911, he received the order of 
Knighthood, receiving the Coronation Medal in the same 
year. From 1900 to 1912, while titular Consul General at 
Rio de Janeiro, he was employed in making his inquiries 
relative to the rubber industry in Putumayo, and headed two 
Commissions of Inquiry, which resulted in some astounding 
revelations. On August 1, 1913, he retired from public 
service on a pension. Prior to these events, in 1887, Sir 
Roger had taken part in the expedition led by Sir Henry M. 
Stanley to rescue Emir Pasha. He was at all times interested 
keenly and personally in everything that tended to the 
elimination of human suffering. Of a mild and gentle disposi- 
tion, he was yet fearless and brave to an amazing degree. 
He seemed to have no sense of personal danger, and numerous 
incidents are on record of gallant acts performed in the course 
of his duty and in private life. 

Following his retirement, he returned to his native country 
after an absence of many years, just at the time when the 
Home Rule agitation was at its height. He was in Belfast 
at the time of the organization of the Carson Volunteers, and 



192 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

seemed to be greatly impressed by the progress that organiza- 
tion was making with the assistance of the Liberal Govern- 
ment. In one of his letters he makes special mention of the 
devices he saw spread across the streets of Belfast on the 
occasion of a visit paid to the city by Sir Edward Carson, 
who was at that time being hailed as the uncrowned King of 
Ulster. Among these devices he mentions two. One of these 
read: ''Welcome to the Kaiser"; and the other: "We prefer 
German Rule to a Home Rule Government." These signifi- 
cant declarations were not without effect on the Irishman 
returning to his native land, and, when the Irish Volunteers 
were organized in Dublin and began to spread throughout the 
country, Casement took an active part in the movement, and 
assisted in the training and drilling of the men. 

Early in June, 1914, Casement visited the United States 
to raise money for the arming of the Irish Volunteers. He 
was soon able to show that his professions of sympathy with 
the Irish cause were sincere, and his tall, thin, yet wiry figure 
was seen in several of the leading cities of America. He met 
the leading Irishmen of New York City, Philadelphia, and 
other places, and was of the greatest assistance to the move- 
ment for the arming of the Volunteers. He had been only a 
little while in America, when the news arrived of the Massacre 
of Bachelor's Walk. This aroused Casement to a bitter 
attack on the manner in which the British Government per- 
mitted the landing of the arms for the Ulster Volunteers, and 
at the same time murdered men and women in Dublin for 
sympathizing with the Irish Volunteers when they followed 
the Orangemen's example. 

This, however, was not the first occasion on which Case- 
ment had criticised the actions of the Government. While 
an honest and efficient servant, he was never servile. His 
writings from August, 1911, showed that he saw where Eng- 
land's policy was leading the Empire, and he repeatedly 
warned his Government of the dangers ahead. He recognized 
that the foreign policy of Britain was directly aimed at 
driving Germany, her only serious trade rival in Europe, to 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 193 

armed protest. His warnings, however, fell only on deaf ears. 
The British Government had its mind made up, and it went 
ahead with its policy with a dogged determination that allowed 
nothing to stand in the way of attaining its purpose. 

In August, 1911, referring to a statement written by the 
Irish novelist, Charles Lever, Casement wrote: 

As long ago as 1870 an Irishman pointed out that, if the English 
Press did not abandon the campaign of prejudiced suspicion it was 
even then conducting against Germany, the time for an understand- 
ing between Great Britain and the German people would be gone 
forever. 

What Lever pointed out during the early stages of the Franco- 
German war has come to pass. Germany has, indeed, become 
thoroughly disgusted, and the hour of reconciliation has long since 
gone by. In Lever's time it was now or never; the chance not 
taken then would be lost forever, and the English publicist of to-day 
is not in doubt that it is now too late. His heart-searchings need 
another formula of expression — no longer a conditional assertion of 
doubt, but a positive questioning of impending fact: "Is it too 
soon.?" That the growing German navy must be smashed he is con- 
vinced, but how and when to do it are not clear. 

In the course of the same article he speaks of British policy 
in Ireland in terms that prove his love for his native land and 
the correctness of his vision of the future. He warns England 
of the danger of her policy in Ireland in terms that admit of 
no misunderstanding. The following extract illustrates his 
thorough knowledge of the situation: 

To represent the island as a poverty-stricken land inhabited by a 
turbulent and ignorant race, whom she has with unrewarded solicitude 
sought to civilize, uplift, and educate, has been a staple of England's 
diplomatic trade since modern diplomacy began. To compel the 
trade of Ireland to be with herself alone; to cut off all direct com- 
munication between Europe and this second of European islands, 
until no channel remained save only through Britain; to enforce the 
most abject political and economic servitude one people ever imposed 
upon another; to exploit all Irish resources, lands, ports, people, 
wealth, even her religion, everything in fine that Ireland held, to 
the sole profit and advancement of England, and to keep all the 



194 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

books and rigorously refuse an audit of the transaction, has been 
the secret but determined policy of England. 

Writing again in September, 1912, Casement, discussing 
the certainty of war between England and Germany and the 
probable outcome of the struggle, says: 

But if the miHtary triumph of Germany seems thus likely, the 
ultimate assurance, nay, even the ultimate safety of German civiliza- 
tion, can only be secured by a statesmanship which shall not repeat 
the mistake of Louis XIV and Napoleon. The mihtary defeat of 
England by Germany is a wholly possible feat of arms, if the con- 
flict he between the two alone, but, to realize the economic and politi- 
cal fruits of that victory, Ireland must be detached from the British 
Empire. To leave defeated England still in the full possession of 
Ireland would be, not to settle the question of equal German rights 
at sea or in world affairs, but merely to postpone the settlement to 
a second and possibly far greater encounter. It would be somewhat 
as if Rome, after the First Punic War, had left Sicily still to Car- 
thage. But Ireland is far more vital to England than Sicily was to 
Carthage, and is of far more account to the future of Europe on the 
ocean than the possession of Sicily was to the future of the Mediter- 
ranean. 

Dealing with the policy of alliances and isolation that 
Britain was then pursuing against Germany, Casement wrote 
in March, 1913: 

Were it not for British policy, and the unhealthy hope it proffers, 
France would ere this have resigned herself, as the two provinces 
have done, to the solution offered by the War of 1870. It is Eng- 
land and English ambition that begets the state of mind responsible 
for the growth of armaments that now overshadows Continental 
civilization. Humanity hemmed in in Central Europe by a forest 
of bayonets and debarred all egress to the light of a larger world by 
a forbidding circle of dreadnoughts is called to Peace Conferences 
and arbitration Treaties by the very Power whose fundamental 
maxim of rule insures war as the normal outlook for every growing 
nation of the Old World. 

Writing again in December, 1913, Casement sums up the 
situation in these remarkable words: 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 195 

The Irishman, who, in the belief that Home Rule has come or 
that any measure of Home Rule the London Parliament will offer 
can be a substitute for his country's freedom, joins the British army 
or navy, is a voluntary traitor to his country. His place is to prepare 
for the coming of the German. His place is to see that, when a vic- 
torious Germany severs Ireland from her hereditary exploiter, the 
difficulties of settlement shall be resolutely faced by a people deter- 
mined to justify the freedom conferred upon them. Even were Ger- 
many all that Englishmen paint her and Irishmen only to change 
"owners," the change could not but be beneficial to Ireland. Ger- 
many took Alsace-Lorraine by force from France in 1870, and has 
governed those provinces for forty years by what is termed "brute 
force," and against the will of the majority. Yet forty years of 
German "tyranny" have brought extraordinary prosperity. Strass- 
burg, a mean, pent-in garrison town under the French, has become 
a great and beautiful city under the Germans, and the population 
of the whole annexed territory has greatly increased in the period. 
Ireland, in the same forty years of English civilization, has lost 
nearly one-fifth of her population. Her pauper rate, her lunacy rate, 
her sick rate — consumption particularly — have all gone up; her 
vitality has gone down. Her ports, save one, lie idle; her rivers 
empty. Every way out lies only through and across Britain. 

' Enough has been quoted to show that Casement, long 
before the outbreak of the war, had seen its shadow on the 
horizon, and recognized the part that Ireland would or should 
play in the coming conflict. It is thus a curious coincidence 
that both Casement and Carson, two men of the most widely 
different type, had seen the same vision from different angles, 
the one appealing to Germany to assist in the preservation 
of the Irish nation, the other making wild appeals from the 
roof-tops to the Kaiser to go over to Belfast and place himself 
at the head of the Carson Volunteers to annihilate the British 
Empire and Redmond. 



CHAPTER XXXI 

Casement in America 

AS already said, Casement's arrival in the United 
States as an envoy of the Irish Volunteers preceded 
by only a few days the Massacre of Bachelor's Walk 
in Dublin. Scarcely had this atrocity disappeared from the 
front pages of the daily papers than the world rang with 
the clash of arms. While Casement knew that the war was 
inevitable, the declarations that plunged Europe into a 
carnival of slaughter at this moment came as a sad blow to 
him, for it upset his plans for the arming of the Volunteers. 
He rapidly recovered, however, and came to the conclusion 
that no time was to be lost if Ireland were to be saved. He 
wrote a manifesto, calling on the Irish people to refuse to 
fight for England, and denouncing the policy of plunder and 
treachery by which England had forced the war. He reiter- 
ated his previously expressed arguments, showing that Eng- 
lish policy had been planning the war for years past, and 
stating that his personal knowledge of the workings of the 
Foreign OflSce made his assurance doubly sure. He made 
no secret of the fact that he was against England in the 
war. He told his friends that he had time and again warned 
the English whither their anti-German policy was leading 
them, and that they had merely laughed. 

Casement lost no time in getting into touch with the lead- 
ers of the Irish movement in America, and with them dis- 
cussed the various phases of the new situation. It was agreed 
practically unanimously that the time had come when Ire- 
land had either to make another fight for her freedom or be 
swallowed up by the maelstrom of the European war. He 
held long conferences with many of those who had been in 
the Irish movement a generation before, and he did not fail 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 197 

to take note of the advice which they tendered to him. He 
paid a number of visits to Philadelphia at this time, and was 
also in Boston. At both of these places he addressed large 
meetings, and was everywhere received with enthusiasm by 
the Irish people. He was a good and a very convincing 
speaker, and his thorough grip of the facts of the situation 
lent weight to his words and enabled him to press home his 
points. 

All this time he was working on the one idea of getting 
together funds for the arming and general equipment of the 
Irish Volunteers. He looked on the Volunteers as so many 
of his children — noble youths who had banded together, in 
response to the age-long call of the Gael, to fight once more 
for Ireland's freedom. He referred to the Volunteers always 
in an affectionate manner, and his whole-hearted ambition 
was to see the Volunteers, well trained and fully armed, 
marching to regain the independence of their native land. 

Appeal after appeal to the men of Ireland not to join the 
English army followed. He denounced Redmond as a traitor 
to his country, and declared that, even if Germany were to 
lose the war, she would again spring up and would be finally 
victorious. His greatest anxiety at this time, so far as events 
in America were concerned, was lest the United States might 
be drawn into the struggle on the side of the British Empire. 
He was well aware that the most powerful pleas were being 
made by the English, who had, only a few years previously, 
failed in their efforts to make an alliance with America — an 
alliance which, had it been consummated, would have pre- 
cipitated the United States into the world war before the 
end of 1914 had been reached. Casement did everything 
that lay in his power to prevent the English plans from suc- 
ceeding, and the vigorous campaign which he waged had un- 
doubtedly some influence on the situation. 

His work was also instrumental in gaining large sums of 
money for the arming of the Volunteers. This money was 
forwarded to Ireland, and was there used for the purpose of 
purchasing arms and equipment for the men, organizing the 



198 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

Volunteer forces, and carrying on the campaign against the 
recruiting sergeant. It was at this time that he began to 
make his plans for his return to Ireland. 

He hoped to get back to Ireland by the Derry route. 
Once in his own country again, it was his plan to place him- 
seK at the head of the Volunteers and to do everything in 
his power to train them into efficient soldiers. He knew well 
that to return to Ireland after the campaign he had waged 
in America would be dangerous. Casement, however, was not 
the man to shun peril, and he was prepared to run the gaunt- 
let in order to be back with his Volunteers in the land he loved 
when the time came to strike another blow for freedom. 

The extracts from Casement's own writings quoted in the 
preceding chapter amply demonstrate that he had not only 
foreseen the war in Europe, but had also come to the con- 
clusion that Ireland would have to take sides with Germany 
in that struggle. In this he did not mean that Irishmen 
should go over to Germany to fight for that country. He 
opposed such an idea as strenuously as he opposed the re- 
cruiting of Irishmen for the English forces. He believed 
that, if the men of Ireland had to do any fighting, the proper 
place for them to fight was on their own soil. But he also 
believed that Germany would be able to assist Ireland, and 
that Ireland's opposition to England would be of the greatest 
value to Germany. He had expressed these ideas in his 
articles written some months before the war, and he held 
to them just as strenuously after hostilities had begun. 

But, if Ireland were to enlist the sympathy and assistance 
of Germany, it was obvious that someone would have to go 
to Germany to urge the claims of Ireland upon the Imperial 
Government at Berlin. There were precedents for this 
course, both in the history of Ireland and in the history of 
the United States. Wolf Tone and Nathan Hale had both 
acted in similar capacities at the Court of France. The 
desirability of the Irish having an accredited representative 
in Germany was so obvious that, once it was mentioned, it 
only remained to find the man best fitted for the position. 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 199 

With his long diplomatic career, Roger Casement was 
certainly ideally fitted to represent Ireland at Berlin. An 
experienced courtier, he was thoroughly conversant, not only 
with the causes of the war, but with the claims that Ireland 
had on Germany and the actual position of affairs both in 
Ireland and among the Irish in America. He was thus 
thoroughly competent to undertake the mission, and it was 
believed that he would be able to do far more good to Ire- 
land as her ambassador in Berlin than he would be able to 
do in Ireland, where he would be in constant fear of arrest 
and imprisonment. 

It was not Casement who made the first suggestion that 
he should go to Berlin. When the idea was mooted, how- 
ever, he fell in with it in an enthusiastic manner. His only 
regret was that he would not be able to be with his Volun- 
teers, but he was consoled by the reflection that he would 
not only be able to enlist aid for them in Germany, but that 
he would also have every chance of being with them when 
the critical time came. 

There were many reasons why Casement should go to 
Germany. It was, for one thing, necessary that the Ger- 
man Government should know the truth regarding the situa- 
tion in Ireland. At that time Mr. Redmond was telling the 
world that Ireland was contented, that the men of Ireland 
were rushing to enlist under the Union Jack, and that the 
people of Ireland — men, women, and children — were as bit- 
ter against the "Huns" as the English themselves. The Irish 
in America knew that these statements were false. They 
also knew that the English Government had no intention of 
carrying out their promises of Home Rule; that the talk 
regarding Home Rule was merely a bluff to deceive the peo- 
ple, and that Redmond was probably a willing party to the 
deception. What they did not know, however, was whether 
the people of Germany knew these things, and knew also 
that the sympathy of the Irish people was not on the side 
of their traditional enemy. 

Another possible outcome of Casement's mission to Ger- 



200 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

many must be mentioned. At the outbreak of the war there 
were a large number of Irishmen in the service of England, 
for reasons which have been made clear in another chapter. 
Whatever their views, these men would have no other op- 
tion but to carry out their contracts and fight against the 
Germans or face a firing squad for mutiny. While admitting 
that, after they had spent a few years in the English army, 
the majority of these men would have lost all sense of their 
duty to their own country, there was also a possibility that 
there would be many of them who would, if they had the 
chance, prefer to fight the battles of Ireland than those of 
the Empire. It was inevitable that a number of the Irish 
soldiers would fall into the hands of the Germans, and it 
was part of Roger Casement's plan to preach the gospel of 
true nationality to these men and form an Irish Brigade. It 
was not intended that these men should fight for Germany. 
The idea was to get them discharged from the prison camps, 
have them dressed in an Irish uniform, armed and equipped 
by the German General Staff, and transported to Ireland, 
where they would be able to join hands with the Irish Volun- 
teers when the time came for action. It was hoped by these 
means to add to the strength of the forces in Ireland, and at 
the same time to rescue a number of Irishmen who had been 
misled by circumstances over which they had had little or 
no control. 

While the Germans were to be asked to assist Casement in 
the carrying out of these parts of the plan, there was one 
thing that they were not asked to do, and which it is well 
to mention in view of the lying statements that were circu- 
lated immediately after the Rebellion, particularly by Mr. 
Redmond and the members of his party. The Germans were 
not asked to assist the Volunteers with money. Nor did 
the Germans plan the Rebellion. The Rebellion was both 
planned and financed in Ireland. The plans were laid in 
Ireland, and most of the money was collected in Ireland. 
Neither Casement nor any other Irishmen ever had any 
intention of asking the Germans to make plans for the Re- 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 201 

bellion. The Germans had quite enough planning to do 
without undertaking to devise ways and means for Ireland, 
more especially as they were well aware that the Irish had 
been planning a rising for years before the war broke out, 
and that they had a far better understanding of the needs 
of the situation than the best-informed of the Germans. It 
can, therefore, be stated emphatically that the statements 
that the rising in Dublin was a German "plot," planned 
and financed in Germany, were nothing more than lies in- 
spired by those who had a reason for wishing to make it 
appear that the Rebellion did not represent the wishes of 
the Irish people, but was engineered by a small group of 
fanatics under the influence of the Germans. 

These were the main lines of the mission that took Roger 
Casement to Berlin. That he was going to Germany, and 
the reasons of his going, were known to only a very few 
until he had actually arrived in that country. The British 
spy system in America was so active that it was only by 
exercising the greatest secrecy that there was any chance 
of the Irish ambassador getting to his destination. The de- 
cision for his departure was reached early in October, 1914, 
and announcement was made that he intended to make a 
lengthy tour in the Western States. This information was 
allowed to leak out in a manner that made it appear authen- 
tic, and had the effect of throwing the British sleuths off 
the scent. While the spies were making their plans to watch 
Casement in the west, he quietly went over to Hoboken and 
boarded a steamer bound for Norway. Casement landed at 
Christiania on October 29, and lost no time in proceeding to 
Berlin. There he was received by the German Government, 
to whom he explained his mission, and by whom he was 
accorded full authority to carry out his plans. 



CHAPTER XXXII 

The Plot to Kill Casement 

THE secret of Casement's departure leaked out, and 
was quickly revealed to the English authorities. With 
an alacrity that does them credit, these authorities 
made arrangements for the spoiling of the plans of Case- 
ment in Germany. While many versions of the actual plot 
have been published from time to time, the full facts of the 
matter are contained only in Roger Casement's personal let- 
ter addressed to Sir Edward Grey, the English Minister 
of Foreign Affairs, whose policy it was that directly pro- 
voked the war. Garbled portions of this letter appeared in 
many of the newspapers printed in New York City, but 
the only complete version was that which appeared in The 
Gaelic American of July 10, 1915. As this communication is 
of special historical value, and as it also gives in ample de- 
tail the facts of the matter as stated by Casement himself, 
it is here presented in full. It was mailed from The Hague, 
in a registered envelope, on February 1, 1915, and reads as 
follows : 

Sir — I observe that some discussion has taken place in the House 
of Lords on the subject of the pension I voluntarily ceased to draw 
when I set out to learn what might be the intentions of the German 
Government in regard to Ireland. 

In the course of that discussion I understand that Lord Crewe 
observed that "Sir Roger Casement's action merited a sensible pun- 
ishment.'* 

The question raised thus as to my action and your publicly sug- 
gested punishment of it I propose discussing here and now, since 
the final proof of the actual punishment you sought in secret to in- 
flict upon me is, at length, in my possession. 

It is true I was aware of your intentions from the first day I set 
foot in Norway three months ago; but it has taken time to compel 



THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 203 

your agent there to furnish the written proof of the conspiracy then 
set on foot against me by His Majesty's Government. 

Let me first briefly define my action before proceeding to contrast 
it with your own. 

The question between the British Government and myself has 
never been, as you are fully aware, a matter of a pension, of a 
reward, a decoration. 

I served the British Government faithfully and loyally as long as 
it was possible for me to do so, and, when it became impossible, I 
resigned. When later it became impossible for me to use the pen- 
sion assigned me by law I voluntarily abandoned that income as I 
had previously resigned the post from which it was derived, and as I 
now proceed to divest myself of the honors and distinctions that at va- 
rious times have been conferred upon me by His Majesty's Government. 

I came to Europe from the United States last October in order to 
make sure that, whatever might be the course of this war, my own 
country, Ireland, should suffer from it the minimum of harm. 

The view I held was made sufficiently clear in an open letter I 
wrote on the 17th of September last in New York, and sent to 
Ireland for public distribution among my countrymen. I append a 
printed copy of that letter. It defines my personal standpoint 
clearly enough and expresses the views I held, and hold, on an Irish- 
man's duty to his country in this crisis of world affairs. Soon after 
writing that letter I set out for Europe. 

To save Ireland from some of the calamities of war was worth 
the loss to myself of pension and honors, and was even worth the 
commission of an act of technical "treason." 

I decided to take all the risks and to accept all the penalties 
the law might attach to my action. I did not, however, bargain for 
risks and penalties that lay outside the law as far as my own action 
lay outside the field of moral turpitude. 

In other words, while I reckoned with British law and legal penal- 
ties and accepted the sacrifice of income, position, and reputation as 
prices I must pay, I did not reckon with the British Government. 

I was prepared to face charges in a Court of Law; I was not pre- 
pared to meet waylaying, kidnapping, suborning of dependents or 
"knocking on the head"; in fine, all the expedients your representa- 
tive in a neutral country invoked when he became aware of my 
presence there. 

For the criminal conspiracy that Mr. M. de C. Findlay, H. B. M. 



204 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

Minister to the Court of Norway, entered into on the SOth of Octo- 
ber last, in the British Legation at Christiania, with the Norwegian 
subject, my dependent, Eivind Adler Christensen, involved all 
these things and more. It involved not a mere lawless attack upon 
myself, for which the British Minister promised my follower the sum 
of £5000 [$25,000], but it involved a breach of international law, 
for which the British Minister in Norway promised this Norwegian 
subject full immunity. 

On the 29th of October, last year, I landed at Christiania, com- 
ing from America. 

Within a few hours of my landing the man I had engaged, and in 
whom I reposed trust, was accosted by one of the secret service 
agents of the British Minister and carried off, in a private motor 
car, to the British Legation, where the first attempt was made on 
his honor to induce him to be false to me. 

Your agent in the Legation that afternoon professed ignorance of 
who I was and sought, as he put it, merely to find out my identity 
and movements. 

Failing in this, the first attempt to obtain satisfaction, Adler 
Christensen was assailed the next day, the SOth of October, by a 
fresh agent and received an invitation again to visit the British Lega- 
tion, "where he would hear something good." 

This, the second interview, held in the early forenoon, was with 
the Minister himself. 

Mr. Findlay came quickly to the point. The ignorance, assumed 
or actual, of the previous day, as to my identity, was now discarded. 
He confessed that he knew me, but that he did not know where I 
was going to, what I intended doing, or what might be the specific 
end I had in view. 

It was enough for him that I was an Irish Nationalist. 

He admitted that the British Government had no evidence of any- 
thing wrong done or contemplated by me that empowered them 
either morally or lawfully to interfere with my movements. But he 
was bent on doing so. Therefore, he baldly invoked lawless methods, 
and suggested to my dependent that were I to "disappear," it would 
be "a very good thing for whoever brought it about." 

He was careful to point out that nothing could happen to the 
perpetrator of the crime, since my presence in Christiania was known 
only to the British Government, and that Government would screen 
and provide for those responsible for my disappearance. 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 W5 

He indicated, quite plainly, the method to be employed, by assur- 
ing Adler Christensen that whoever "knocked him on the head need 
not do any work for the rest of his life," and proceeded to apply the 
moral by asking Christensen, "I suppose you would not mind hav- 
ing an easy time of it for the rest of your days?" 

My faithful follower concealed the anger he felt at this sugges- 
tion, and continued the conversation in order to become more fully 
aware of the plot that might be devised against my safety. He 
pointed out that I had not only been, very kind to him but that I 
** trusted him implicitly." 

It was on this "implicit trust" Mr. Findlay then proceeded to 
build the whole framework of his conspiracy against my life, my 
liberty, the public law of Norway, and the happiness of the young 
man he sought to tempt by monstrous bribes to the commission of a 
dastardly crime against his admitted benefactor. 

If I could be intercepted, cut off, "disappear," no one would 
know and no questions could be asked, as there was no Government 
save the British Government knew of my presence in Norway, and 
there was no authority I could appeal to for help, while that Govern- 
ment would shield the individual implicated and provide handsomely 
for his future. Such, in Mr. Findlay 's words (recorded by me), was 
the proposition put by His Majesty's Minister before the young man 
who had been enticed for this purpose into the British Legation. 

That this man was faithful to me and to the law of his country 
was a triumph of Norwegian integrity over the ignoble inducement 
proferred to him by the richest and most powerful Government in 
the world to be false to both. 

Having thus outlined his project, Mr. Findlay invited Christensen 
to "think the matter over and return at 3 o'clock if you are disposed 
to go on with it." 

He handed him in Norwegian paper money twenty-five kroner 
"just to pay your taxicab fares," and dismissed him. 

Feeling a not unnatural interest in these proposals as to how I 
should be disposed of, I instructed the man it was thus sought to 
bribe to return to the British Legation at 3 o'clock and seemingly 
to fall in with the wishes of your Envoy Entraordinary. 

I advised him, however, for the sake of appearance to "sell me 
dear" and to secure the promise of a very respectable sum for so 
very disreputable an act. 

Christensen, who has been a sailor and naturally has seen some 



206 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

strange company, assured me he was perfectly at home with His 
Majesty's representative. 

He returned to the Legation at 3 o'clock, and remained closeted 
with Mr. Findlay until nearly 5 p.m. The full record of their con- 
versation will be laid before you, and others, in due course. 

My follower pretended to fall in with the British Minister's proj- 
ects, only stipulating for a good sum to be paid in return for his 
treachery. Mr. Findlay promised, on his "word of honor" (such was 
the quaint phraseology employed to guarantee this transaction) 
that Christensen should receive £5000 sterling whenever he should 
deliver me into the hands of the British authorities. 

If, in the course of this kidnapping process, I should come to harm 
or personal injury be done me, then no question would be asked 
and full immunity guaranteed the kidnapper. 

My follower pointed out that, as I was leaving that evening for 
Copenhagen, having already booked my compartment in the mail 
train, he would not have any immediate chance of executing the 
commission. 

Mr. Findlay agreed that it would be necessary to defer the at- 
tempt until some favorable opportunity offered of decoying me down 
to the coast "anywhere on the Skaggerrack or North Sea," where 
British warships might be in waiting to seize me. 

He intrusted my dependent with the further commission of pur- 
loining my correspondence with my supposed associates in America 
and Ireland, particularly in Ireland, so that they too might par- 
ticipate in the "sensible pimishment" being devised for me. 

He ordained a system of secret correspondence with himself Chris- 
tensen should employ, and wrote out the confidential address in 
Christiania to which he was to communicate the results of his efforts 
to purloin my papers and to report on my plans. 

This address in Christiania was written down by Mr. Findlay on 
a half sheet of Legation note paper in printed characters. This 
precaution was adopted, he said, "so as to prevent the handwriting 
being traced." 

This document, along with one hundred crowns in Norwegian 
paper money given by Mr. Findlay as an earnest of more to follow, 
was at once brought to me with an account of the proceedings. 

As I was clearly in a position of some danger, I changed my plans 
and, instead of proceeding to Copenhagen as I had intended doing, 
I decided to alter my procedure and route. 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 207 

It was, then, with this secret knowledge of the full extent of the 
crime plotted by your Representative in Norway against me that I 
left Christiania on the 30th of October. 

The rest of the story need not take so long in the telling. 

You are fully aware of most of the details, as you were in con- 
stant touch with your agent both by cable and dispatch. 

You are also aware of the declaration of the Imperial German 
Government, issued on November 20th last, in reply to the inquiry 
I addressed to them. 

The British Government, both by press reports and by direct 
agents, had charged Germany throughout the length and breadth of 
Ireland, with the commission of atrocious crimes in Belgium and 
had warned the Irish people that their fate would be the same, did 
Germany win this war. 

Yoiu: Government sought to frighten Irishmen into a predatory 
raid upon a people who had never injured them and to persuade 
them by false charges that this was their duty. 

I sought not only a guarantee of German goodwill to Ireland, but 
to relieve my countrymen from the apprehensions this campaign of 
calumny was designed to provoke and as far as possible to dissuade 
them from embarking in an immoral conflict against a people who 
had never wronged Ireland. That Declaration of the German Gov- 
ernment, issued as I know in all sincerity, is the justification for my 
"treason." The justification of the conspiracy of the British Gov- 
ernment and its Minister at Christiania, begun before I had set foot 
on German soil in a country where I had a perfect right to be and 
conducted by means of the lowest forms of attempted bribery and 
corruption, I leave you, sir, to discover. 

You will not discover it in the many interviews Mr. Findlay had, 
during the months of November and December last, at his own seek- 
ing, with my faithful follower. The correspondence between them 
in the cipher the Minister had arranged tells its own story. 

These interviews furnished matter that in due course I shall make 
public. What passed between your agent and mine on these occa- 
sions you are fully aware of, and you were the directing power 
throughout the whole proceeding. 

Your object, as Mr. Findlay frankly avowed to the man he thought 
he had bought, was to take my life with public infamy — mine was 
to expose your design and to do so through the very agent you had 
yourself singled out for the purpose and had sought to corrupt to an 
act of singular infamy. 



208 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

On one occasion, in response to my follower's pretended dissatis- 
faction with the amount offered for betraying me, you authorized 
your agent to increase the sum to £10,000. I have a full record of 
the conversations held and of the pledges proffered in your name. 

On two occasions, during these prolonged bargainings, your Min- 
ister gave Adler Christensen gifts of "earnest money." Once it was 
five hundred crowns in Norwegian currency; the next time a similar 
sum, partly in Norwegian money and partly in English gold. On 
one of these occasions, to be precise, on the 7th of December last, 
Mr. Findlay handed Adler Christensen the key of the back entrance 
of the British Legation, so that he might go and come unobserved 
and at all hours. 

I propose returning this key in person to the donor and along with 
it the various sums so anxiously bestowed upon my follower. 

The stories told to Mr. Findlay at these interviews should not 
have deceived a schoolboy. All the pretended evidence of my plans 
and intentions Adler Christensen produced, — the bogus letters, ficti- 
tious maps and charts and other incitements to Mr. Findlay's appe- 
tite for the incredible, — were part of my necessary plan of self-defense 
to lay bare the conspiracy you were engaged in and to secure that 
convincing proof of it I now hold. 

It was not until the 3rd ultimo that Mr. Findlay committed him- 
self to give my protector the duly signed and formal pledge of reward 
and immunity, in the name of the British Government, for the 
crime he was being instigated to commit, that is now in my possession. 

I transmit you herewith a photograph of this document. 

At a date compatible with my own security against the clandes- 
tine guarantees and immunities of the British Minister in Norway I 
shall proceed to lay before the legitimate authorities in that country 
the original document and the evidence in my possession that throws 
light on the proceedings of His Majesty's Government. 

To that Government, through you, sir, I now beg to return the 
insignia of the Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael and St. 
George, the Coronation Medal of his Majesty King George V, and any 
other medal, honor, or distinction conferred upon me by His Majesty's 
Government, of which it is possible for me to divest myself. 

I am, sir, your most obedient, humble servant. 

The Right Honorable. ^^^^^^^ ^^^^ Casement 

Sir E. Grey, Bart., K. G., M. P. 
London. 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 209 

The document referred to, a photographic facsimile of which 
was inclosed with the letter, follows: 

BRITISH LEGATION 

Christiana, Norway 

On behalf of the British Government I promise that if through 
information given by Adler Christensen, Sir Roger Casement be 
captured either with or without his companions, the said Adler 
Christensen is to receive from the British Government the sum of 
£5000 to be paid as he may desire. 

Adler Christensen is also to enjoy personal immunity and to be 
given a passage to the United States should he desire it. 

M. DE C. FiNDLAY, 

H, B. M. Minister. 



CHAPTER XXXIII 

Straws on the Stream 

THE events which followed the declaration of war 
came with startling rapidity. From the day when 
Redmond showed himself in the guise of an English 
Imperialist, rather than that of an Irish Nationalist, prepara- 
tions became active for the armed protest of the nation. It 
had been the belief in Ireland, since shown well founded, that 
it was never the intention of the British Government to keep 
to its promises. Therefore, the Volunteers had been called 
into being. Redmond made tremendous efforts for some 
months to ignore their existence, but it was increasingly 
evident that the British Government was now worried about 
the Volunteers, and Redmond received orders to put an end 
to them. 

Redmond's attempt to capture and disarm the Volunteers 
and its failure has been already described. The crisis was 
precipitated when Redmond made a public appeal to the 
Volunteers in which he told them that they were cowards if 
they did not join the British army, either individually or in a 
body, and fight for the Empire against the Teutons. By 
getting the Volunteers into the firing lines the British Govern- 
ment would have some excellent fighting material, and at the 
same time would have cleared a dangerous force out of Ire- 
land, leaving the country destitute of men able to make a 
fight for freedom. Redmond would also have been rid of a 
number of critics who had assumed to themselves the task of 
telling the people facts that were not to the liking of the 
leader of the Parliamentarians. It would have been an 
excellent coup had it succeeded, but it was too transparent to 
deceive the Irish people. 



THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 211 

The Provisional Committee of the Volunteers — the original 
governing body — issued the following proclamation to the 
Volunteers on September 25, 1914: 

TO THE IRISH VOLUNTEERS 

Ten months ago a Provisional Committee commenced the Irish 
Volunteer movement with the sole purpose of securing and defend- 
ing the rights and liberties of the Irish people. The movement on 
these lines, though thwarted and opposed for a time, obtained the 
support of the Irish nation. When the Volunteer movement had 
become the main factor in the national question, Mr. Redmond 
decided to acknowledge it and to endeavor to bring it under his 
control. 

Three months ago he put forward the claim to send twenty -five 
nominees to the Provisional Committee of the Irish Volunteers. He 
threatened, if the claim was not conceded, to proceed to the dis- 
memberment of the Irish Volunteer organization. 

It is clear that the proposal to throw the country into turmoil, 
and to destroy the chances of a Home Rule measure in the near 
future, must have been forced upon Mr. Redmond. Already ignor- 
ing the Irish Volunteers as a factor in the national position, Mr. 
Redmond had consented to a dismemberment of Ireland, which 
could be made permanent by the same agencies that forced him to 
accept it as temporary. He was now prepared to risk another dis- 
ruption and the wreck of the cause intrusted to him. 

The Provisional Committee, while recognizing that the responsi- 
bility in that case would be altogether Mr. Redmond's, decided to 
risk the lesser evil and to admit his nominees to sit and act on the 
committee. The committee made no representations as to the per- 
sons to be nominated, and, when the nominations were received, no 
question was asked as to how far Mr. Redmond had fulfilled his 
public undertaking to nominate "representative men from different 
parts of the country." Mr. Redmond's nominees were admitted 
purely and simply as his nominees and without cooption. 

Mr. Redmond, addressing a body of Irish Volunteers last Sunday, 
has now announced for the Irish Volunteers a policy and programme 
fundamentally at variance with their own published and accepted 
aims and pledges, but with which his nominees are, of course, identi- 
fied. He has declared it to be the duty of the Irish Volunteers to 



212 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

take foreign service under a government which is not Irish. He 
has made this announcement without consulting the Provisional 
Committee, the Volunteers themselves, or the people of Ireland, to 
whose service alone they are devoted. 

Having thus disregarded the Irish Volunteers and their solemn 
engagements, Mr. Redmond is no longer entitled, through his nomi- 
nees, to any place in the administration and guidance of the Irish 
Volunteer organization. Those who, by virtue of Mr. Redmond's 
nomination, have, therefore, been admitted to act on the Provisional 
Committee, accordingly cease henceforth to belong to that body, 
and from this date xmtil the holding of an Irish Volunteer Conven- 
tion the Provisional Committee consists of only those whom it 
comprised before the admission of Mr. Redmond's nominees. 

At the next meeting of the Provisional Committee we shall 
propose: 

1. — To call a Convention of the Irish Volunteers for Wednesday, 

November 25, 1914, the anniversary of the inaugural meeting 
of the Irish Volunteers in DubHn. 

2. — To reaflfirm, without quaHfication, the manifesto proposed and 

adopted at the inaugural meeting. 

3. — To oppose any diminution of the measure of Irish self-govern- 

ment which now exists as a statute on paper, and which 
would not have reached that stage but for the Irish Volunteers. 

4. — To repudiate any undertaking, by whomsoever given, to con- 

sent to the legislative dismemberment of Ireland, and to pro- 
test against the attitude of the present government, which, 
under the pretense that "Ulster cannot be coerced," avow 
themselves prepared to coerce the Nationalists of Ulster. 

5. — To declare that Ireland cannot, with honor and safety, take part 

in foreign quarrels otherwise than through the free action 
of a National Government of her own; and to repudiate the 
claim of any man to ofiFer up the blood and lives of the sons 
of Irish men and women to the services of the British Em- 
pire while no National Government which could speak and 
act for the people of Ireland is allowed to exist. 

6. — To demand that the present system of governing Ireland 

through Dublin Castle and the British mihtary power, a 
system responsible for the recent outrages in Dublin, be 
abolished without delay, and a National Government forth- 
with established in its place. 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 213 

The signatories to this statement are the great majority of the 
members of the Provisional Committee of the Irish Volunteers, apart 
from the nominees of Mr. Redmond, who are no longer members of 
the Committee. We regret that the absence of Sir Roger Casement 
in America prevents him from being a signatory with us. 

(Signed) Eoin MacNeill, Chairman, Provisional Committee 

Ua Rathghaille, Treasurer Eamonn Martin 

Thomas MacDonagh Conchubhair O'Colbaird 

J. Plunkett Eamonn Ceannt 

PiARAS Beaslai Sean MacDiarmada 

Michael J. Judge Seamus 0' Conchubhair 

Peter Paul Macken, Ex-Alderman 'Liam Mellows 

Sean MacGiobium L. Colm O'Lochlainn 

P. H. Pearse 'Liam Ua Gogan 

Padraic O'Riain Peter White 

BULMER HoBSON 

41 Kildare Street, DubHn. 

September 25, 19U. 

Following this declaration the Convention of the Irish 
Volunteers was held in the Abbey Theatre, Abbey Street, 
Dublin, on November 14, 1914. The Convention was attended 
by representatives of the Volunteers from all parts of the 
country, and the proposals detailed in the above statement 
were unanimously endorsed. From that moment Redmond's 
control of the Volunteers ceased. The entire Provisional 
Committee was elected as a Permanent Committee by the 
delegates to the Convention, and Redmond was left with a 
small and rapidly dwindling section of men, who professed 
to owe allegiance to him and his Party. These who preferred 
to remain with Redmond, chose to be known as the National 
Volunteers, while the Volunteers led by Eoin MacNeill and 
the Committee were known as the Irish Volunteers. 

That Redmond did not approve of this action on the part 
of the Volunteer Committee scarcely needs to be mentioned. 
He and his party immediately denounced the Irish Volunteers 
as traitors, factionists, and Sinn Feiners. The use of the last- 
mentioned supposedly opprobrious term was very subtle. It 



214 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

was intended to make the English people beUeve that those 
who disagreed with Redmond were either Fenians or cranks, 
or both. This action had, however, one rather curious result. 
From that time on the Irish Volunteers were known in 
England as the Sinn Feiners, and, when the rebellion broke 
out, the British press promptly tacked on to it the name 
"Sinn Fein." Thus it was that the rebellion came to be 
known as the "Sinn Fein Rebellion.'* 

With a view to winning the support of the Volunteers for 
the British army in the fighting line, Redmond had taken 
particular pains to tell the Irish people what an awful fate 
would be theirs if the Germans should ever set foot in Ireland; 
that the Gaelic language, about which he had previously 
shown himseK singularly unconcerned, would be prohibited; 
that the churches would be razed to the ground, and all 
priests and nuns would be slaughtered and outraged by the 
savages from Teutonland. 

On November 29, however, the German Government issued 
the following statement, which was published all over Ireland 
in spite of the frantic efforts of the British to suppress it: 

Sir Roger Casement was received at the Foreign OflSce and pointed 
out statements which had been published in Ireland, apparently with 
the authority of the British Government behind them, that German 
victory would inflict great loss upon the Irish people, whose homes, 
churches, priests, and lands would be at the mercy of an invad- 
ing army actuated only by motives of pillage and conquest. Re- 
cent utterances of Redmond and announcements of the English 
press in Ireland to this effect, widely circulated, have caused a nat- 
ural apprehension among Irishmen concerning the German attitude 
towards Ireland. 

In reply the Acting Secretary of the Foreign Office, by Order of 
the Imperial Chancellor, officially declared that the German Govern- 
ment repudiates the evil intentions attributed to it, and only desires 
the welfare of the Irish people and country. 

Germany would never invade Ireland with a view to its conquest, 
or the overthrow of any native institutions of that country. Should 
fortune ever bring German troops to Ireland's shores they would 
land there, not as an army of invaders to pillage and destroy, but 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 215 

as forces of a nation inspired by goodwill towards the country and 
people for whom Germany desires only national prosperity and 
freedom. 

Almost coincident with this official statement from the 
German Government, there appeared throughout Ireland the 
letter sent to the Irish people by Sir Roger Casement before 
he left the United States. The difficulty of getting this 
letter to the people was considerable, but it eventually reached 
them. The following is the text of the communication: 

Let Irish men and boys stay in Ireland. Their duty is clear be- 
fore God and before man. We, as a people, have no quarrel with the 
German people. Germany has never wronged Ireland, and we owe 
her more than one debt of gratitude. 

It was not a German steamship company that, last summer, 
with the assent of the government making the contract, broke pub- 
lic faith with the Irish people and abandoned its pledged service 
with the port of Cork. But it was a German steamship company 
that tried to make good the breach of public trust and the injury 
to Irish trade that the Cunard Company had committed, and the 
British Postmaster-General, Admiralty and Board of Trade had con- 
nived at. And it was another British department that made repre- 
sentation at Berlin in behalf of English trade jealousy and caused 
the German Emperor to intervene to induce the Hamburg-American 
line to substitute Southampton for Queenstown — a British for an 
Irish port. The hated German was welcome when he came to an 
English port — his help and enterprise was out of place when directed 
to assisting Irishmen to better means of intercourse with the outside 
world. 



CHAPTER XXXIV 
Planning the Rising 

AT a secret session of the Committee of the Irish 
Volunteers, held in Dublin on May 29, 1915, with 
Professor Eoin MacNeill presiding, a resolution was 
proposed by Bulmer Hobson to the effect that the Irish 
Volunteers declare themselves in favor of immediate insurrec- 
tion. There was a full meeting of the committee, as elected 
by the Volunteers at the annual Convention, and the question 
was debated at very considerable length, opinion being about 
equally divided. The motion was decided in the negative 
only by the casting vote of the chairman. 

Long before this time it had become an acknowledged fact 
that the Irish Volunteers had only three possible courses 
which they could pursue. They had, first, the option of 
disbanding voluntarily and giving up their arms and, by so 
doing, of facing the certainty of being conscripted into the 
British army; secondly, they could submit to being disarmed 
by order of the British Government with a like result, or, 
finally, they could fight for Irish freedom on their own soil. 
They had long before decided that they would not disband 
voluntarily. To do so would be an abject surrender of all 
the objects for which they were organized. To submit to 
being disarmed would be only a shade worse, and would 
have branded them cowards for all future time. It may be 
said that they had the option of joining the British army and 
covering themselves with glory and death in the trenches of 
Flanders or the Gallipoli Peninsula. But this alternative 
was naturally not even considered. The only course left, 
therefore, was to make a fight in their own country. 

The Volunteer Committee was exceptionally well informed 
of the efforts made by the British Government to suppress 



THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 217 

their organization. That this information was correct was 
shown conclusively by the later admissions of the British 
Government itself. This will be dealt with in another place. 
Here it is but necessary to state that the Committee was in 
possession of absolutely reliable information of everything 
that the British Government was doing and contemplating, 
and they molded their actions accordingly. They knew that 
the Government was anxious to suppress the Volunteers, and 
that, immediately after this was accomplished, the Conscrip- 
tion Act would be extended to Ireland. They knew also that 
the Government was prevented from applying the Conscrip- 
tion Act to Ireland only by the strength of the Volunteers, 
and that the time was certainly coming when the Govern- 
ment would make the attempt to disarm them so that the 
Conscription Act might be made applicable to Ireland. The 
only question that remained, therefore, was when and how 
and where to strike the blow. 

In May, 1915, the situation in Ireland reached a crisis. 
The people were being driven to desperation by the acts of 
the Government under the so-called Defense of the Realm 
Act. Under this Act men were being deported wholesale 
without being allowed to put in a defense, the only evidence 
required being a sworn statement of a constable, which state- 
ment was usually not submitted to the accused person. Men 
were being thrown into jail and kept there without trial. 
Women were being treated in a similar manner. In number- 
less instances men were arrested, fined, and imprisoned on the 
most trivial charges, and often without charges at all. 

Practically from the beginning of the war, many men had 
been preparing for the rising. It was obvious that the rising 
must have its initiative in the capital. The headquarters of 
the Volunteers and the leaders of the movement were alike 
located in Dublin, which was also the center of British Gov- 
ernment. After a great deal of discussion it was decided that 
the best place for the initial attack would be the General 
Post Office in O'Connell Street, which was not only situated 
in the heart of the city but would also give the rebels, for a 



218 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

time at all events, complete control over the telegraph and 
telephone systems. It was of primary importance that the 
rebels should have the use of these means of communication 
at the outset, and the fact that the English would not be 
able to use them would in itself be a factor of the utmost 
value to the Irish. The Post Office building was of modern 
construction, of granite stone, and able to withstand an 
attack. It was also of such a height as to command a view 
of the other portions of the city. 

Another question that was discussed at length was the 
advisability of an attack on Dublin Castle, the seat of the 
British Government in Ireland. Always of the most sinister 
and bloody significance in Irish history, the Castle had come 
to be synonymous in Irish minds with the worst evils of 
foreign government. In previous rebellions attacks had been 
made on it, but, because of its wonderful strength of con- 
struction and its large garrison of military, these attempts had 
never succeeded. Apart from its value as a point of vantage 
for the Volunteers, the conquest of Dublin Castle would have 
had the same effect as the fall of the Bastile. However, it 
was decided not to make a serious attack on it at the outset 
of the Rebellion, owing to the fact that the attackers would be 
open to counter attack on several sides. It was believed 
better to make merely a sufficient attack to keep those 
within it busy for the time being, and to defer the actual 
siege until a later stage of the revolt. 

*' Liberty Hall," the headquarters of the Citizen Army, was 
another strategic center. It was opposite the Custom House, 
a palatial white stone building facing the Liffey, and com- 
manded the loop line of railroad leading to Amiens Street 
Station. It was also within a short distance of the General 
Post Office, and its defenders, if forced to do so, could retreat 
in that direction. But most important of all, it commanded 
a clear view of the river, and could hamper the movement of 
troops along or across the Liffey. 

Another position that the Irish determined to seize at the 
beginning of the Rebellion was "Kelly's Fort," at the corner 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 219 

of Bachelor's Walk and O'Connell Street, facing directly on 
O'Connell Bridge. It was necessary to hold this position in 
order to enable the Irish to defend the bridge against attacks 
from the south side of the city. The Iron Bridge, Butt 
Bridge, and the bridge leading to the Four Courts were also 
of strategic importance. The Four Courts was also a position 
of great strength, which could not only be held for a con- 
siderable time against all attacks, but which also commanded 
several vital points in the immediate vicinity. 

The railroad stations — Kingsbridge, facing the Phoenix 
Park, and Broadstone, near Phibsboro — were positions that, 
once captured, could be held without much trouble. Amiens 
Street Station, at the foot of Talbot Street, was in a very 
crowded location that would not allow very great freedom of 
action on the part either of the defenders or the attackers, 
but it commanded the important elevated stretch of line 
leading out towards the Bull Wall at Clontarf. Westland 
Row Station was of modern construction and offered excellent 
positions for defense. 

All of these points of the situation had been thoroughly 
considered long before the outbreak of the war, but with the 
declaration of the war another and a vitally important factor 
had been added. The perfection to which German ingenuity 
and science had brought the submarine seemed to solve one 
of the greatest difficulties that the Irish had to face. An 
Irish-Germanic alliance would be of assistance to the Irish, 
inasmuch as the German submarines could prevent the land- 
ing of troops by sea, and at the same time could prevent the 
bombardment of the coast by British warships. It was thus 
believed that, with a sufficient force of men in Dublin to 
occupy all the more important points of vantage, the Irish 
would be able to take care of the British army in Dublin and 
its neighborhood, in spite of all that that army could do. 

On the other hand, however, it was obvious that the men 
in Dublin would, if surrounded by a hostile force, be com- 
pelled to surrender eventually if left to their fate. The plan 
of the Irish, therefore, was that the men in Dublin should 



220 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

hold out until such time as the men in the rest of the country- 
would be able to march to their relief. It was not con- 
templated that the Rebellion should have its origin and end 
in Dublin, while the rest of the country was content to take 
care of itself. It was the aim of the organizers from the 
beginning to raise large forces in the country districts and 
all the large towns. These forces were so distributed that 
they could not only take care of all the British in their own 
vicinity, but could also release large numbers to form a relief 
force to march to Dublin. 

When a simultaneous rising took place throughout the 
country, the British forces would be scattered. There were 
but small bands of soldiers and constabulary in most of the 
country districts, and it would be easy to capture and im- 
prison these. In some of the larger towns and cities where 
the enemy forces were stronger, it would be necessary, per- 
haps, to adopt tactics similar to those in Dublin. But the 
onward march of the Irish would automatically relieve these 
positions by mere weight of numbers, and end in the concen- 
tration of the entire Irish force on Dublin. The plan, in brief, 
was for the men in Dublin to proclaim the independence of the 
country, and then to hold their own while the men in every 
other section gathered together and swept down on the capi- 
tal. That the plan was practicable admits of no doubt. 

It was, of course, essential that few British reinforcements 
should be allowed to reach Ireland. To accomplish this, chief 
reliance was placed on the cooperation of German sub- 
marines. With a patrol of these around the coast, it would 
be difficult, if not impossible, for the British in England to 
send relief to their army in Ireland. The latter would, if 
the fortune of war favored the Irish in the final struggle for 
the mastery of Dublin, be forced to capitulate, and this 
would leave the Irish in unchallenged command of the coun- 
try. In addition to the capture of the forces of the enemy, 
the rifles, machine guns, ammunition, and other war stocks 
that would thus fall into the hands of the Irish would add 
tremendously to the strength of their position. 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 mi 

But the cooperation of the Germans was not absolutely- 
essential. The plan provided for the formation of a cordon 
of Volunteers around Dublin. The Republicans in the 
center would hold the points of vantage; encircling these 
would be the cordon of the British, who in turn would be 
encircled by the men of County Dublin and the adjoining 
counties. The latter were to march on Dublin immediately 
they received news of the rising, and encircle the outskirts 
of the city. Caught thus between two fires, the British would 
have been forced to capitulate before the arrival of reinforce- 
ments. Meanwhile the rest of the country would be in arms, 
and thousands would march towards the capital to join their 
comrades. If reinforcements should be landed before the 
British in Dublin were forced to capitulate, they would be 
destroyed before getting far on their way. The manner in 
which De Valera and his men held the British at Mount 
Street Bridge is suflScient proof of the difficulties British troops 
would have to contend with. That these plans were not car- 
ried out was due entirely to the fatal countermanding order. 

It may well be asked what the Irish would do once they 
had gained the upper hand in the country. It may be said 
that they would still be cut off from the rest of the world and 
surrounded by hostile forces. This would not altogether be 
the case. With the Irish in command throughout their own 
country, the Germans could land both men and arms by 
means of submarines. Ireland would thus become a vitally 
important base for the operations of the Germans; the greater 
portion of the sea approaches to England would be in the 
hands of enemy forces, and her western boundary would be 
seriously menaced. She would no longer have the command 
of the Atlantic or of the Irish Sea, and an entirely new field 
of operations, bristling with perils and difficulties, would 
have opened for her. In addition, the moral effect both on 
the outside world and on England and her Allies would have 
been tremendous. It is, therefore, obvious that the plan of 
the Irish not only had in it a large possibility of success, but, 
if carried out, would almost certainly have proved a crowning 



222 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

disaster for England in the war. Ireland would have been 
able to hold out till the conclusion of peace, and would have 
no occasion to petition a Peace Conference for an independ- 
ence which her arms had already won. 

Even thus briefly summarized, it will be seen that the plan 
of the Irish leaders was no wild scheme. So perfectly were 
these plans laid that the leaders did not even believe defeat 
possible, provided their arrangements could be perfected. 
But they were not blind to the fact that it was better for 
them to make the attempt and fail than not to try at all. 
It was essential that Ireland should become a belligerent in 
the world war. Both the English and the so-called Irish 
leaders had told the world that Ireland was in sympathy 
with the part that the British were playing, that Ireland was 
ready and willing to kiss the hands that had scourged her 
and to fight on the side of the power that had oppressed her 
for centuries. The facts were just the direct opposite. The 
Irish people were bitterly incensed against the British Empire, 
not alone on account of what that Empire had done in the 
past, but owing still more to the manner in which the Irish 
people were being treated during the course of the war and 
right up to the time of the Rising, England was posing 
before the world as the defender of the small nations, when 
she had consistently been the oppressor of every small nation 
that had come within her power. She said she was waging 
the war to save Belgium from being exterminated, when, in 
reality, she was fighting a trade war against her most serious 
rival. Ireland believed it necessary to show to the world 
that she had no share in England's war, that her soul was not 
dead, that she was still fighting for her freedom, and that her 
men and women were ready and willing to die for her sake. 

But it was essential that Ireland should be prepared, and 
when the proposal was put before the Volunteer Committee 
in May, 1915, it was the opinion of the leader of that body 
that Ireland was not yet fully equipped for the great adven- 
ture. Therefore the proposal was defeated, and the work of 
making ready continued. 



CHAPTER XXXV 

An Irish Republic 

TO those whose knowledge of Irish affairs is limited to 
what they read in the daily press, the theory of an 
Irish RepubUc may sound rather strange, but the 
ideal has exercised a great influence on Irish history during 
modern times. Even prior to 1776 there were men in Ireland 
who avowed themselves believers in the doctrine of republi- 
canism. As a matter of fact, the feudal system that prevailed 
in the other countries of Europe was never part of the Irish 
social scheme. Up to 1649 the Irish chiefs held their position 
at the will of their people; their system was much the same 
as that which is now called republicanism. The Irish were 
by nature democratic, and recognized no distinction save that 
of intellect or military prowess. Their ancient civilization 
was founded on these lines, and did not grow into a feudal 
system, as happened on the Continent of Europe. It is, 
therefore, not surprising that the doctrine of government for 
the people by the people should take quick root in Irish soil 
when it became popular in the western world towards the 
latter half of the eighteenth century. 

The constitutional plans of the 1916 leaders were simple, 
and had already undergone a trial in the case of the Volun- 
teers. Broadly speaking, they were founded on the American 
system of government. It was arranged that, immediately 
before the outbreak of the Rebellion, the leaders should meet 
together. It must be remembered, in this connection, that 
the vast majority of these leaders had been elected by the 
men in the Volunteer Corps throughout the country, and 
were, to this extent at least, representative. At this meeting 
of the leaders, votes were to be cast as to who should con- 
stitute the First Provisional Government of the Irish Republic. 



224 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

A Provisional President was to be elected, and a number of 
men to assist him in the carrying out of the orders of this 
Provisional Government. The President was to be in sole 
command of the armed forces of the country in the same 
manner as the President of the United States is head of the 
American army and navy. • 

This Provisional Government was to continue the govern- 
ment of the country during the Rising and imtil the national 
issue had been settled. When the country had attained her 
independence and peace was restored, the Provisional Govern- 
ment would immediately take steps to hold an election 
throughout the country, using the existing electoral districts 
and system, with the exception that every man and woman 
of legal age would be entitled to cast a vote. There was to 
be manhood and womanhood suffrage. It was to be an 
election by the people of Ireland, and any Irish man or 
woman who had a sufficient number of names on his or her 
nomination papers would be eligible for election as President 
of the Republic. In this election there was to be no distinc- 
tion of class or creed. So long as a man or a woman was 
Irish, of legal age, and possessed the residential qualification, 
he or she had a right to participate in the election of the 
Government of the country. The men and the women of 
Ulster would be on the same level as the men and the women 
of Munster, Leinster, and Connacht. There would thus be 
no possible means of creating dissension or of any one party 
claiming that they were being treated unfairly. 

Coincident with the election of the President, there was to 
be held the election of the governing body. At first there 
was to be but one legislative chamber. This body, in con- 
ference with the President, was then to elect the cabinet. 
They would then take up the question of a dual or a single 
system of government, and other questions relative to the 
composition and the manner of the government for the 
future. When these questions had been debated, recom- 
mendations would be presented to the people, who would then 
decide these questions for themselves. Thus the will of the 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 225 

whole people was to be made all-powerful in the land, and 
what would probably have been the most thoroughly demo- 
cratic system of government the world has yet seen would 
have been established. 

That the Irish people would have responded to such a 
system is scarcely open to doubt. It is positive that under 
such a system of government Ireland would have entered 
upon a period of development of industries and manufactures, 
a revival of literature, science, and art, such as she had not 
witnessed since the opening years of the eleventh century. 
In countries other than their own, the Irish have given in- 
dubitable proof of their capacity for government and industrial 
development, and there is no reason whatever why they 
should not be able to do in their own country what they have 
already done in other climes where they enjoyed that personal 
freedom of action denied to them by England. 



CHAPTER XXXVI 

Green, White, and Orange 

FOR generations it had been the dehberate and calcu- 
lated policy of the English Government to keep 
separate the north and the south of Ireland, to 
draw a dividing line between the two sections of the country, 
and to accentuate religious differences. The reason for this 
policy is self-evident: a nation divided against itself must of 
necessity remain in the power of a strong invader. By 
making the Protestant of the north beUeve that his life and 
liberty were constantly menaced by the CathoUc of the south, 
east, and west, the Enghsh were able to keep in the country 
a perpetual garrison to guard their own interests — a garrison 
that would lose no opportunity of attacking the motives 
of the other inhabitants of the country, thus breeding sus- 
picion and distrust. On the other hand, the foreign Gov- 
ernment did not neglect to sow the insinuation that the 
Catholics of the rest of the country might also be in danger 
from the Protestant of the north. By these simple means 
the invader succeeded in keeping the country divided into 
two portions, each apparently with different interests and 
opposing aims. 

While the majority of the Irish people were Catholics, it 
must be admitted that these were not alone in their pro- 
fessions of patriotism and devotion to the national cause. 
Some of the bravest and most devoted leaders in the country 
were Protestants from the North, who preached the doctrine 
of love of country to both Catholic and Protestant. These 
men were under no delusions regarding their fellow-country- 
men who differed from them in religious faith. They held 
that nationality was not a matter of reUgion, and that a 
Protestant and a Catholic should meet on the same ground 



THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 227 

as Irishmen. They resented the imputation that a Protestant 
could not be an Irishman, and proved by their actions that 
the Irish Protestant was just as keenly interested in the wel- 
fare of Ireland, and just as bitterly opposed to the foreigner, 
as the Irish Catholic. 

For some years prior to the rebellion of 1798 there had 
been growing up in the country a number of secret organi- 
zations, most of which had for their purpose the terrorizing 
either of the Catholic or the Protestant inhabitants. This 
condition of affairs suited the English Government, and few 
if any efforts were made to suppress these societies. When 
repression was made, it was the Catholic Society that came 
under the ban of the law. Thus it happened that two power- 
ful organizations came into existence — the "Peep-of-Day 
Boys," who favored the Protestant side, and the "Defenders," 
who took the part of the Catholics. The membership of 
these two societies increased rapidly, and the rivalry between 
them grew to such a pitch that it eventually resulted in a 
pitched and bloody battle being fought between them in 
Armagh, at a place called The Diamond, and which resulted 
in the "Defenders," or Catholic faction, being defeated with 
serious loss. This victory for the "Peep-of-Day Boys" had 
the effect of creating a reign of terror in the north, in which 
the Catholics suffered loss of life and property. Outrages 
became frequent, and the division between the north and 
the south was more keenly accentuated than ever. 

In order to understand these peculiar conditions in the 
land, it must be remembered that the Protestants of the 
north were the descendants of English and Scottish planters, 
who had been placed in possession of the land by the English 
Government for the purpose of ousting the natives from the 
country. When it was realized by the English that the Irish 
did not take kindly to conquest and were inclined to create 
a great deal of trouble, the English decided that the best 
thing to do was to induce a number of their own kind to 
settle on the land, and to so use the Irish that the latter 
would be forced to get out. Various settlements of the 



228 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

English were made, but in each case the majority of the 
newcomers were absorbed by the more virile race, and 
frequently became the strongest advocates of the claims of 
the Irish people to national liberty. 

An English plantation of Ulster was attempted in 1573, 
but this was a failure, and Thomas Smith, the leader of the 
English, was slain. A similar attempt, made under the Earl 
of Essex in the same year, was also a failure. Other efforts 
met with no better success, and it was not until 1608 that a 
Royal Commission took the matter thoroughly into considera- 
tion, with the result that the entire northern province was 
confiscated and divided in a systematic manner into lots of 
from 1000 to 2000 acres each. These lots were then parceled 
out to a new set of planters, composed of a number of English 
colonists with a majority of Scottish farmers and merchants. 
In addition, large sections of the province were allotted to 
various London Corporations and to private individuals. 
It was stipulated that all of these planters should belong to 
the Protestant faith, that they should follow English or 
Scottish customs, and were to employ no Irish in any capacity. 
Thus Ulster was at last planted, and what seemed to be the 
chief obstacle to the conquest of the country was removed. 

The Scottish planters took care to hand down to their sons 
and daughters the trust they had received, to keep the Irish 
in subjection, and to do everything for the honor and glory 
of the Protestant religion. The "Peep-of-Day Boys" were 
their natural successors, and, after the victory of The Dia- 
mond, they decided they would form a new and more powerful 
organization. This was done, and the Orange Society came 
into being. William III, Prince of Orange, was chosen as 
the patron saint of the new society, and the Battle of the 
Boyne, which was fought in 1690, became the annual festival 
of the society, being celebrated on every twelfth of July. The 
orange lily was chosen as the emblem of the brotherhood, and 
orange as its distinctive color. 

Almost coincident with the formation of the Orange Society, 
which received the warm encouragement of the English 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 229 

Government, efforts were made to neutralize its effects. 
There were many Irish Protestants even in those days who 
were not in sympathy with the war of rehgious fanaticism 
and oppression conducted by the Orangemen. At the same 
time the outrages of the Orangemen upon their Cathohc 
neighbors were so continuous that reprisals were but natural, 
and the effect was as the English had hoped — the country 
was split into two warring factions, with an increasing bitter- 
ness of feeling that seemed destined to last for all time. 

Coming to later times the United Irishmen, formed in 
Belfast in October, 1791, by Theobald Wolfe Tone, aimed at 
a reunion of all parties for the securing of the common rights 
of all Irishmen. Tone, himself a Protestant, saw that the 
religious strife was promoted by the English only for the 
purpose of keeping the country in subjection, and he openly 
espoused the rights of his Catholic fellow-countrymen and 
urged on his Protestant friends and neighbors to do the same. 
This organization attained considerable strength and, through 
various phases of fortune, maintained itself until the Rebellion 
of 1848, when the new national color was adopted of green, 
white, and orange, the green being the color chosen by the 
other three provinces, the orange being the emblem of the 
North, and the white, the connecting link, signifying peace, 
unity, and brotherhood. This soon came to be recognized 
as the banner of those who had pledged themselves to win 
by force of arms the freedom of Ireland. 

John Mitchel, another Protestant northerner, was perhaps 
the most ardent advocate of national unity who ever led the 
men of Ireland in their struggle for Freedom. The pages of 
his paper. The United Irishman, which he edited during 1848, 
contain scores of appeals to the people to forget their alleged 
differences and unite against the common enemy. He wrote 
editorial after editorial, addressed to the Protestant farmers, 
laborers, and artisans of the north of Ireland, and he was 
always able to point out that their interests lay in joining 
hands with their fellow-countrymen and opposing the efforts 
of the foreigner to rule and ruin both. The Irish Felon y 



230 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

which succeeded The United Irishman after the trial and 
sentence of Mitchel, continued the same work, which was 
also carried on by The Irish Tribune^ published about the 
same time. In The Irish Felon^ James Fintan Labor, one of 
the brightest spirits among Irish patriots, wrote on the 
subject in language that remains to-day as vivid an inspiration 
as when it was first penned. The spirit that animated the 
men of these days and of the days that followed cannot be 
better illustrated than in the words of the poem by "Maire,'* 
published in The Felon of July 22, 1848. It is entitled "A 
Harvest Song" and is as follows: 

Gaily our banner is over us streaming — 

Green as our hills is its emerald light; 
White, snowy, pure as our noble cause gleaming; 

Orange, that waves as a harvest-field, bright; — 
Calling to mind by its tri-color blending — 

On as we dash with defiant hurrah — 
Never forget it, our war-cry unbending — 

"Freedom," the Felons, and Eire-go-Bragh. 

Come — you from iron cliffs hanging o'er ocean; 

Come — you from valleys that sleep in their green; 
Come, like your own rushing torrents in motion; 

Come as the lightning-flash, felt when 'tis seen. 
Marching like brothers still, hand in hand grasping. 

Discord fling down and with gallant hurrah. 
Back let the echoes ring, till we're laid gasping in: 

Freedom, the Felons, and Eire-go-Bragh. 

The Fenian organization, or Irish Republican Brotherhood, 
was the natural successor to the movements led by Tone and 
Mitchel. William Smith O'Brien, who may almost be said 
to have founded the I. R. B. by his own efforts, was con- 
temporary with Mitchel and had imbibed all the teachings of 
that splendid patriot. From the beginning it was a cardinal 
point of faith with the Fenians that there should be no 
dividing line of religion, that it mattered not what a man's 
faith might be so long as he was true to Ireland. The 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 231 

Fenians also adopted the tricolor of green, white and 
orange, and they, in their turn, passed it down to the men 
who flung it to the breeze in April, 1916. While many of 
these men were not actual members of the I. R. B., they 
recognized that this was the flag of Ireland, the flag of the 
Irish Republic, and from that day it became the national 
emblem. 

It was, therefore, rather disconcerting to find, within the 
first few weeks after the Rebellion, many enthusiastic and 
poetically inclined individuals inscribing ecstatic stanzas in 
eulogy of the "green and gold." While, in ancient days, 
there was no such thing as a national color in Ireland, yellow 
was recognized from an early date as peculiar to the leading 
Ulster clans. Blue was also a favorite color emblem with the 
ancient Irish and at one time assumed a vogue that may be 
said to have given it a national significance. One of the 
most prominent emblems was the Sunburst, showing a 
yellow sun on a blue field. The amalgamation of these two 
colors, the yellow and the blue, produced the green, which, 
although it became known the world over as the Irish national 
color, was nevertheless a comparatively modern innovation. 
The history of the orange has already been traced, and it 
will thus be seen that gold never entered into the national 
color scheme of Ireland. On the other hand, the green, white, 
and orange possesses a genuine historical significance, and 
was most appropriately made symbolical of a free and a 
united nation. 



CHAPTER XXXVII 

What Did Redmond Mean? 

FROM May, 1915, when the proposal that the Volun- 
teers should at once declare for an armed insurrection 
was defeated or deferred by Eoin MacNeill's casting 
vote, the work of preparing for the rising went steadily on. 
It was even then recognized that the time could not be much 
longer postponed, and that there was no time to be lost if 
matters were to be in readiness when the proper moment 
came. In America it was well known that the decision had 
been reached for a rising, and efforts were made to insure 
that the men at home should have sufficient arms and war 
supplies to enable them to make that struggle a success. It 
was found almost impossible to send arms and ammunition 
from America to Ireland, in spite of the fact that millions of 
dollars* worth of war material were being shipped from 
American ports to the Allies every week. With a patrol of 
British war vessels lying outside New York and elsewhere off 
the coast, there was small chance of a cargo of arms being 
safely transferred from this country to Ireland. It was, 
therefore, determined that the best, and in fact the only 
way to get the arms into the country was from Germany. 

Sir Roger Casement had been sent to Germany for the 
purpose of representing Irish interests there. It was not a 
part of the work that had been assigned him to make any 
negotiations for the sending of arms from Germany to Ireland. 
Casement was thought to be of too pacific a nature to be 
fitted for the task, and it was far better that other men 
should do this work while he remained in touch with the Im- 
perial Court and with the leaders in Ireland so that the men 
in Ireland would be the better able to judge of the time 
when the blow could be struck with the greatest effect. 



THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 233 

Throughout 1915 and the early part of 1916 the work of 
preparing the men of Ireland for the rising and of organizing 
the country districts progressed very smoothly. The main 
difficulty with which the leaders had to contend was that the 
men under them were too eager for action. While the 
British Government was doing everything in its power to 
provoke the men to a premature outbreak, it was difficult 
for the Volunteers to restrain themselves. Many incidents 
showed how the temper of the people was rising, and those 
who were directly responsible for the government of the coun- 
try began to feel some alarm, more particularly as the efforts 
of the military did not produce any actual clash, and it was 
more and more obvious that each succeeding day saw the 
Volunteers better prepared for the task before them. 

An interesting indication of the manner in which the 
discontent of the people had resulted from the outrageous 
treatment to which they were being subjected is shown by 
the fact that some of the hardest workers in the preparations 
for the rising were found among the priests and the school 
teachers. Seeing where English policy and Redmondism 
were leading, many of the priests, particularly those of the 
younger generation, came out openly and advised the people 
to do all in their power to resist the English law. This had 
special application to the commandeering of the crops for 
the feeding of the British and Allied forces at the front, and 
the Irish priests told their people that, if they allowed their 
crops to be taken, the country would again be plunged into 
the miseries of famine and starvation similar to the black and 
dreadful days of 1846, 1847, and 1848. At the same time the 
cost of foodstuffs was rising in spite of the fact that the 
season was one of the best in many years. These were signs 
which the Irish people were not slow to appraise. 

In September, 1915, the English Government made the 
sudden discovery that communications were passing between 
the Volunteer leaders in Ireland and the heads of the Clan-na- 
Gael in the United States. This seems to have been some- 
what of a shock to them, although they must have known 



234 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

that these negotiations were going on from the first day the 
Volunteers were founded in November, 1913. The EngHsh 
officials also discovered that money was being sent to Ireland 
— a fact that was openly published in the Irish papers in 
New York and elsewhere throughout the United States 
eighteen months previously. Some of the discoveries made 
by the British Government during this period of Irish history 
would provide excellent material for a farce. The rising was 
being planned out in the open, was being openly advocated, 
and everyone knew it was coming, and yet the "private and 
confidential'* reports of the paid agents of the Castle were 
apparently able to discover only what was public information 
months previously. 

That the Government was then becoming seriously worried 
over the situation is certain. On December 18, 1915, a 
lengthy letter was sent from the Undersecretary to Chief 
Secretary Augustine Birrell, from which the following is an 
extract: 

What is Redmond up to with his comparisons between Ireland 
and Great Britain in the matters of police and crime .^^ He knows, 
or should know, after what Dillon wrote to him over a month ago 
in the inclosed "confidential" letter, and repeated verbally on the 
3d inst., that the present situation in Ireland is most serious and 
menacing. Redmond himself sent me the other "private" inclosure 
on the 9th. He knows, or should know, that the enrolled strength 
of the Sinn Fein Volunteers has increased by a couple of thousand 
active members in the last two months to a total of some 13,500, 
and each group of these is a center of revolutionary propaganda. He 
knows, or should know, that efforts are being made to get arms for 
the support of this propaganda — that the Irish Volunteers have 
already some 2500 rifles, that they have their eyes on the 10,000 
in the hands of the supine National Volunteers, and that they are 
endeavoring to supplement their rifles with shot guns, revolvers, and 
pistols. New measures, possibly requiring additional police at the 
ports, will be required to counter these attempts, and unless in 
other matters we keep these revolutionaries under observation we 
shall not be in a position to deal with the outbreak, which we hope 
will not occur, but which undoubtedly will follow any attempt to 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 235 

enforce conscription, or, even if there is no such attempt, might take 
place as result of continued unsuccess of British arms. 

This communication is illuminating in more respects than 
one. In the first place it offers proof positive that Redmond 
and Dillon were completely aware of the position of affairs in 
Ireland at a time when they were telling the people of 
America, through the inspired cables of Mr. T. P. O'Connor, 
that the Irish were enthusiastic in their support of the British. 
At the time when Redmond was telling his American dupes 
that the men of Ireland were joining the British army at the 
rate of so many thousands per week, the actual fact, known 
to him and to his colleagues, was that the men of Ireland were 
joining the Volunteers led by Eoin MacNeill and were prepar- 
ing for rebellion. This oflficial communication also proves 
that the British Government did not dare to put conscription 
into force in Ireland, not because Mr. Redmond asked them 
not to do so, but because both Redmond and his British 
paymasters were afraid of the rifles in the hands of the Irish 
Volunteers. The official reference to the so-called "National" 
Volunteers, led by Mr. Redmond, as "supine," is also en- 
lightening. It is worthy of note that they are not referred 
to as the "loyal Volunteers" by the British officials. Mr. 
Redmond's friends chose, whether by accident or design, a 
far more expressive epithet. 

But — and this is far more important — the communication 
also shows that the British Government in Ireland had at last 
come to the conclusion that the Irish were not to be fooled 
and misled any longer, and that it was time to take action. 
It would appear that Undersecretary Sir Matthew Nathan 
had a far surer grip of the actual position of affairs than 
those who held more responsible positions. He had already 
warned his superiors that the condition of affairs in Ireland 
was not what it was being officially represented to be, and 
many of his communications are reposing in Downing Street, 
London, where they have been hidden from the light of day 
and will possibly make interesting reading for the archseolo- 



236 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

gists of the future. It is quite certain that these letters, as 
well as many other documents dealing with the Rebellion, 
are not destined to be disclosed to the pubHc during the 
twentieth century, if the British Government is able to prevent 
it. 

St. Patrick's Day, 1916, was observed in such a manner 
in Ireland that from that day Secretary Birrell decided to 
receive daily reports on the condition of affairs from his 
spies and the police. He later admitted as much in his 
evidence before the Commission appointed to inquire into the 
causes of the Revolution. The Irish National Festival was 
observed by parades of the Volunteers throughout the country, 
under orders from their headquarters. From every part of 
the country specially appointed officers of the Royal Irish 
Constabulary turned in reports to their Inspector General 
dealing with these parades. In the report that this Inspector 
General forwarded to the officials of the Government as a 
summary of the proceedings, the following passage is interest- 
ing: 

There can be no doubt that the Irish Volunteer leaders are a pack 
of rebels who would proclaim their independence in the event of 
any favorable opportunity but with their present resources and 
without substantial reinforcements it is difficult to imagine that they 
will make even a brief stand against a small body of troops. These 
observations, however, are made with reference to the provinces and 
not to the Dublin Metropolitan Area, which is the center of the 
movement. 

From this time on, the recruiting question being very acute 
across the Channel owing to the protests that France and 
Russia were making, the question of disarming the Volunteers 
was most acutely exercising the minds of the Government. 
The Government now found itself faced by the results of its 
own weakness and double-dealing of two years before. They 
found that, if they were to disarm the Irish Volunteers, they 
would also have to disarm the "National" Volunteers, "led" 
by Redmond. To do otherwise would be to increase still 
further the anti-English feeling throughout the country. If 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 237 

they disarmed the "National" Volunteers, they would also 
have to disarm the Ulster Volunteers, or otherwise the cry of 
unfair discrimination would be raised. That the Ulster 
Volunteers would not submit to being disarmed was a fore- 
gone conclusion. Furthermore, the Cabinet was a coalition 
cabinet, and contained a number of the men who had been 
foremost in the formation of the Ulster Volunteers, and who 
would see the Government disrupted rather than consent to 
the disarming of their followers. Thus the Government was 
placed between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, and had 
only itself to thank for its predicament. Had the Liberals 
been genuine in their professions to the Irish when the Home 
Rule Bill was first introduced, and had they then prevented 
the formation of the Ulster Volunteers, they would have had 
no Irish Volunteers and no disarmament problem to trouble 
them. 

The leaders of the Volunteers were well aware of the inten- 
tions of the Government, and, during the last week in March, 
the Council of the Volunteers held a meeting in Dublin. 
The session lasted a considerable time. The advisability of 
striking a blow then was under discussion, and it was the 
opinion of many that the time had come. Others, however, 
including Eoin MacNeill, feared that they were not suflS- 
ciently prepared, and that they had not suflScient arms for 
their purpose. It was realized that the situation was serious 
in the extreme, and a proclamation was issued to the public — 
but really to the Government — warning the Government 
that the Volunteers "cannot submit to be disarmed, and that 
the raiding for arms and the attempted disarming of men, 
therefore, in the natural course of things, can only be met 
by resistance and bloodshed.'* 

The Government met this ultimatum by ordering the exile 
of a number of the Volunteer organizers. On March 28, 
expulsion orders were served on A. Monaghan, Volunteer 
organizer of Galway, and E. Blythe and William Mellows, of 
Dublin. They were arrested and told they would be kept 
in jail until they had made arrangement to get out of the 



238 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

country. Simultaneously a number of newspapers were 
suppressed — every paper that still possessed a spark of 
national sentiment being silenced. It was evident that, being 
afraid of taking a definite step to put an end to the Volun- 
teers, the Government had embarked on a policy of deliberate 
provocation in the hope that they would either scare the 
Volunteers into submission, or else cause a premature outbreak 
that could easily be suppressed. 

Coincidently, Redmond made a speech in Galway in which 
he stated that, unless Ireland offered up at least 1000 of her 
men weekly to the British as cannon fodder in France, Eng- 
land would refuse, and rightly, to stand by her Home Rule 
agreement. Redmond did not say whether or not he had 
been ordered by the British Government to make this state- 
ment, but it is known that, had it not been for the strong 
cordon of police and military that attended Redmond on that 
occasion, he would not have escaped with his life. It was 
well known to the Dublin Castle authorities that arrange- 
ments had been made to deal with the man by whom the 
Irish believed they had been deliberately tricked and betrayed. 

At the same time the proposal was put forward that 
Ireland should be taxed to pay one-sixth of the expenses of 
the war. This proposal was met by a storm of protests from 
all parts of the country. Even the Anglicized Dublin Cor- 
poration passed a motion stating that the Council *' viewed 
with alarm the proposed enormous increase in taxation,** and 
requesting the Irish representatives in Parliament to resist 
any such increase "as contrary to both the Act of Union and 
the Home Rule Act,'* at the same time pointing out that 
"Ireland's building and other chief industries are practically 
at an end owing to the war. This being so, the incidence of 
taxation is different from that obtaining in Great Britain, 
and so should be taxed, especially as a Royal Commission has 
already so recommended.'* 



CHAPTER XXXVIII 

Casement and the Irish Leaders 

SUFFICIENT mention has already been made of the 
reasons why Roger Casement went to Berlin as 
Ireland's Ambassador. That he had nothing to do 
with the actual plans of the Rebellion, and that in fact he 
did everything in his power to prevent it, is established fact. 
One of the most pressing needs of the men in Ireland was the 
need of arms and ammunition. Some months before the 
rising a message was dispatched to Berlin asking for arms, 
and the German Government thereupon made the necessary 
arrangements to comply with the Irish request. 

At the same time a message was sent to Berlin asking that 
the consignment of the arms be kept secret from Sir Roger 
Casement. This was owing to the fact that the letters 
which Casement was sending to New York were of a nature 
that made it certain that he would not be in sympathy with 
a revolutionary movement at that time. Before going to 
Germany, Casement was under the belief that the Teutons 
were certain of victory and that Ireland was in danger of 
being involved in the downfall of the British Empire. On 
this account he made representations to the German Govern- 
ment with the result that the proclamation already mentioned 
was issued by that Government. 

Later on, however, Casement, for reasons that will probably 
never be known, became less certain as to the outcome of 
the war. He began to feel that the struggle could end in no 
decisive manner, and that a compromise peace would be the 
result. He thought that, if this were the case, any attempt 
at rebellion in Ireland was foredoomed to failure. Being 
practically exiled in Germany, he had little or no means of 



240 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

knowing the extent of the preparations that had been made, 
and also knew nothing of the manner in which the British 
Government was treating Ireland at the time. He was, in 
fact, quite out of touch with the actual facts of the situation. 

When, therefore, he learned that a rising was possible in 
Ireland, he lost no time in seeking to prevent it. In the 
course of letters which he managed to get through to New 
York, he made this attitude very clear. He declared it would 
be folly for Ireland to make any attempt at rebellion. "There 
is no chance for the poor old woman," wrote Casement on one 
occasion — the reference being to Ireland under one of her 
Gaelic titles. 

At the same time he was also able to get similar communi- 
cations into Ireland, addressed to Eoin MacNeill. For these 
reasons it was not considered advisable by a majority of those 
who were organizing the Revolution that Casement should be 
made acquainted with their plans. It was not that they 
thought Casement other than sincere; he would never have 
been allowed to represent Ireland in Germany had there been 
any idea that he was not a genuine Nationalist. Casement 
was trusted implicitly and given plenipotentiary powers in 
Germany in so far as diplomatic relations were concerned. 
Casement had always been known both to his friends and his 
foes as a staunch Irish Nationalist, and the fact that he was 
one of those who had assisted in the purchase of the consign- 
ment of arms that was landed at Howth was also not for- 
gotten. Casement's sincerity was above question, yet there 
was no doubt that it was better that he should know nothing 
regarding the request to the German Government for the 
consignment of arms. 

Neither was it the intention of the Irish leaders to supersede 
Casement in Germany. As Ireland's Ambassador, he was 
carrying out most capably the work to which he had been 
assigned, and which he had chosen for his own. That work 
did not include the making of plans for a rebellion in Dublin. 
It was not the part of an ambassador to carry out negotiations 
of this kind. He was there for the purpose of keeping in 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 241 

touch with the actual trend of events in Germany in so far 
as they concerned Ireland. It was also a fact that Casement 
was not of the stuff that conspirators — if the word may be 
used in this connection — are made. He had amply demon- 
strated that he had nothing to conceal; he had several times 
spoken freely to newspaper correspondents, and seemed to 
delight in making the fullest possible statements regarding 
his own affairs. This does not necessarily mean that he was 
not a diplomat, either; but that he was just a little too 
trusting in the sincerity of the motives of everyone with whom 
he came into contact. 

Not knowing the true state of affairs in Ireland, but hearing 
that a rebellion was being planned. Casement at once came 
to the conclusion that this rebellion could not possibly succeed, 
owing to the fact that the Germans, however willing they 
might be, were not then in a position to undertake any 
operations that would assist Ireland. Casement was appar- 
ently of the opinion that it would be impossible for the 
rebellion to succeed unless a German army was landed 
immediately in Ireland. This was not the case. It was 
perfectly true that the landing of a German army in Ireland 
would have been of the greatest help to the Irish Republicans. 
But the plans were so made that it was possible for the 
rebellion to succeed even if Germany did nothing at all. 
All that Germany was asked to do, as a matter of fact, was 
to send a consignment of arms, ammunition, and machine 
guns. The German submarines might also be of use, as has 
been mentioned, in preventing the arrival of reinforcements 
for the British. 

It is very probable that the German Government had a 
shrewd suspicion as to the reasons why they were asked not 
to make Casement acquainted with the request for munitions. 
It was certainly not owing to any leakage on the part of 
German Government oflScials that the secret became known 
in two widely different quarters. In a manner that still 
remains somewhat of a mystery the fact was communicated 
to the British Government. While the whole matter still 



242 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

remains to be cleared up, there are one or two outstanding 
facts that may be used as the basis of deductions. 

The request for the arms from Germany was, in the first 
place, brought to New York by messenger, since direct com- 
munication between Ireland and Berlin was impossible. The 
fact that this messenger was one of the signers of the Proc- 
lamation of the Irish Republic is sufficient proof of his trust- 
worthiness. This man brought the message to New York, 
and it was then referred to the officials of the German Govern- 
ment here. By them it was forwarded, as a matter of course, 
to Berlin. Some weeks later the officials in New York 
received a message from the Imperial Government to the 
effect that the arms were being sent from Germany on April 
12, and would be due in Ireland about Easter Sunday. This 
was the date which had then been arranged for the rising. 
A few days later Secret Service men made a raid on the 
offices of a German Government official in New York City, 
removed certain papers, and within forty-eight hours the 
British Government in London knew of the impending 
arrival of the arms-laden vessel from Germany. When the 
facts became known, the accusation was made that this 
information had been conveyed to London from the United 
States. This was admitted at the subsequent inquiry held by 
the British Government into the causes of the Rebellion. 

The fact of the arms being sent also reached the ears of 
Roger Casement. In some respects this was even more 
disastrous than the fact that the British came to know of 
the plans. Casement seems to have become obsessed by the 
idea that Ireland was about to be drenched with blood without 
a chance of success in her adventure. At that time he appears 
to have been suffering from melancholia, and to have had 
the most pessimistic notions regarding the entire situation, 
both in Germany and Ireland. He would also seem to have 
been disappointed because he had not been taken into the 
confidence of the leaders, for he contributed a lengthy article, 
early in April, to the Munchener Zeitung regarding his services 
to Ireland — services which no one knowing him ever ques- 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 ^4S 

tioned. He also reviewed the reasons for his going to Ger- 
many, saying that his main motive in going to BerUn was to 
obtain from the German Government assurances of the good- 
will of the German nation towards Ireland in order that he 
might "preserve his fellow-countrymen from participation in 
a great crime.'* He must also have considered it necessary 
to show that his work had not been without results, as he 
added: "The fact that England has not succeeded in ex- 
tending compulsory recruiting to Ireland, and the admission 
that Ireland is exempt from doing military service for Great 
Britain or the British Empire, are the best justification of 
my visit to Germany." 

Following this declaration, he got into touch with the 
German authorities, and asked that he be allowed to return 
to Ireland. This request was, in the first instance, refused 
on the grounds that the enterprise was one of exceeding 
danger, and that it would have no useful results. Casement, 
however, persevered in his demands, and even went so far as 
to state that he wanted to get back to Ireland for the purpose 
of assisting the rebels. That this was not the case, is known 
to be a fact, but that a man of Sir Roger's caliber should go 
to the length of deliberately misrepresenting his motives is 
sufficient to show his state of mind and his determination to 
stop, at all costs, what he believed was a fruitless adventure. 

Meantime, the German Government was busy preparing 
the consignment of arms for Ireland. The vessel Aud was 
chartered for the purpose, and was loaded with 20,000 rifles, 
1,000,000 rounds of ammunition, and 15 machine guns. The 
rifles were part of those which had been captured from the 
Russians during the retreat of the armies of the Czar during 
the previous summer, and were all in first class condition. 
The vessel was placed in charge of a special crew, and left 
Germany on April 12, bound for Ireland. 

While this was being done. Casement was still making 
application to the German Government for transportation to 
Ireland. Owing to the manner in which he represented his 
reasons for wishing to make the journey, the German officials 



244 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

eventually gave him the facilities he sought, and informed 
him that a submarine would be placed at his disposal in 
which he would be taken to Ireland. Upon receipt of this 
information Casement made preparations for the journey, 
and decided to take with him two of his companions in 
Germany, Captain Robert Monteith and Private Daniel 
Bailey — the latter a British soldier of Irish birth who had 
been captured by the Germans and became a member of the 
Irish Brigade recruited by Casement in Germany. The party 
left Germany in the submarine at the same time as the Audy 
on April 12. 

Perhaps nothing better illustrates Casement's state of 
mind at this time than the letter which he wrote on April 11, 
the day before he left Germany, and forwarded to his sister, 
Mrs. Agnes Newman, who was in New York City at the time. 
This document speaks for itself: 

My Dear Old Girl: I am going away on a long journey and may 
not be able to write you again for a long time — perhaps a very 
long time. I have often thought of you of late and longed to see 
you again, but it has not been possible. You did quite right to go 
to America, and I was all wrong. A friend here will see you from 
me later and give you some things. 

I do hope I may see you safe and well when the war is over, but 
no one can say what will happen these dreadful days. It is all 
dark and black. 

All my thoughts have been for Ireland, but I fear I have done 
very Uttle, certainly not what I tried. When we meet, it will be a 
happy day for me. I feel so deeply for you, cut off and alone, but 
God grant you have kind friends around you. They told me you 
were about to become a Catholic. I hope so. 

Countess Blucher — you remember her — is near me. I saw her 
lately, and Count Blucher, and they can tell you something of me, 
and also another friend here. — is my staunch friend over on your 
side. I often think of you, my dearest old girl, and I pray that all 
may go well with you and that you may be a CathoHc and find 
peace and happiness there. 

Give the dear wee Gee my love and kisses and Elsie, too, both of 
them. I may not be able to write for a very long time as all the 
ways are closed, and it is so hard to get letters across. 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 245 

I trust if this letter is intercepted some kind heart will send it 
on to you in the end, that you may know how much I thought of 
you and felt for you in these dark, awful days. I only hope now 
for peace and goodwill and all this dreadful nightmare of horror 
gone away. 

Some day you will know all about it. Good-bye, my dearest and 
truest companion of so many years, and keep me always in your 
heart. 

This, obviously, is not the letter of an Irish rebel leader 
going to the firing of the first shot of his rebellion. Rather 
is it the last word of one who knows that he is going to his 
death, who feels that his fate is sealed, but who is resolved 
to sacrifice his life in what he considers a noble and righteous 
cause. 



CHAPTER XXXIX 

A Romance of the Sea 

THE whole course of the Irish Rebellion of 1916 is set 
with one romance after another. This is due to 
the extraordinary circumstances that surround almost 
every phase of what is one of the most impressive chapters 
in the history of Ireland. 

Not the least remarkable episode of the Rebellion was that 
concerned with the two expeditions which left Germany for 
Ireland on April 12. It is not certain whether those on 
board the Aud were aware of the fact that a submarine with 
Sir Roger Casement on board left the same day; the pre- 
sumption is that they were not. It is certain, however, that 
Sir Roger Casement did not know that the Aud had left 
port. He did know that a consignment of arms had been 
asked for by the Irish leaders, and that the German Govern- 
ment had promised to grant that request. He may also 
have known some details concerning the consignment of arms 
that the Aud was carrying, but it will shortly appear that 
his information was not altogether accurate. If it was, he 
made representations later that certainly were not correct. 

On the other hand, the commander of the German sub- 
marine was certainly aware of the suspicions which the Irish 
leaders entertained regarding Casement — suspicions, as has 
already been pointed out, that in no way reflected on his 
personal honor or sincerity. These suspicions had been 
communicated to the German commander by his Government 
and he was ordered to proceed slowly to Ireland, so that the 
Aud would have ample time to land her cargo before Case- 
ment could interfere with it or with the plans of the Irish 
leaders. The Aud was not a slow vessel; yet, owing to the 
conditions at sea which she had to contend with, it was 



THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 247 

probable that the submarine would otherwise make Ireland in 
better time. For the U-boat could travel in comparative 
security all the way, and would not be obliged to go out of 
her course to avoid giving rise to suspicion. These were facts 
that were taken fully into consideration by the commander 
of the submarine, and he therefore determined on a course of 
action that would, in his estimation, make certain the arrival 
of the Aud before Casement. 

With this object in view, the submarine commander put 
in at Heligoland, stating that his vessel needed repairs. 
Whether this was so or not, is uncertain, but it is a fact that 
for two weeks Casement was forced to remain in idleness on 
the shores of the island under circumstances which must have 
been maddening to a man in his position. He had no possible 
chance of getting into communication with the men in Ireland; 
he was absolutely cut off from the rest of the world, and was 
uncertain, up to the last minute, as to when he would be 
able to resume his journey. As the days passed by, he did 
not know but that the rebellion he was risking his life to 
avert had already broken out. The delay was continued 
from one day to another till it must have seemed as if he was 
doomed to perpetual exile on that lonely coast. At last, 
after two weeks of this mental agony, the submarine com- 
mander announced that the repairs to his vessel had been 
completed, and Casement, looking almost a shadow of the 
man he had been, resumed his interrupted journey. 

In the meantime the Aud had been slowly threading her 
perilous path through enemy waters towards the coast of 
Ireland. Although she flew at times a neutral flag, she was 
well aware that this was no protection against inspection by 
the British, who were holding up all neutral trade and making 
seizures of mail and whatever else attracted their suspicions 
or their fancy. Going far out of her course, she traveled by 
unfrequented paths, if such could be said of any part of her 
route. Her pace was slow in the daytime, but at night she 
crowded on all possible speed, dashing through the dark with 
all lights out and three lookout men posted, taking her 



248 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

chances of mines or collisions as necessary parts of her mission 
to the assistance of the men of Ireland. 

The naval exploits of the Germans during the great war 
furnish several of the most thrilling chapters of adventure and 
disregard of peril that have ever been written in the age-long 
annals of the sea, but none of them deserve a higher place 
than the voyage of the Aud, From her commander to the 
last man in her crew there was not a man who did not know 
that he was facing almost certain death, if they failed in 
their hazardous enterprise. These men were taking the risks, 
not on behalf of their own Fatherland, but for a country 
which it is. very possible none of them had even seen. While 
it is true that they were acting under the orders of the German 
Government, the crew was made up entirely of volunteers. 
Nor must it be forgotten that Germany had made no demands 
upon Ireland, or upon the leaders of the Irish Republicans. 
Germany asked nothing of Ireland. It is true that a success- 
ful rebellion in Ireland would have been welcome for merely 
selfish reasons to the German Government, but, at the same 
time, it is but fair to state that that Government asked no 
guarantees of Ireland, and that the men of the Aud volun- 
tarily took their hves in their hands from purely noble and 
unselfish motives. 

During the first couple of days at sea the Aud managed to 
evade notice. The patrols of the British fleet must have been 
lacking in vigilance, for not even the smoke of a warship was 
sighted. Towards the close of the third day, however, a little 
excitement was forthcoming to break the monotony. The 
sun had just dipped below the edge of the horizon when a 
heavy streak of black smoke, blowing westward across the 
prow of the Aud, rose to disclose the dark and ugly hull of a 
destroyer. The Aud began, little by little, to deflect her 
course some points to the south, so as to veer away from the 
rapidly approaching craft. 

It seemed, however, that the destroyer was not to be misled 
by tactics such as these. Coming on with a big burst of 
speed, the warship raced to cross the path of the German 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 249 

vessel. The men on the Aud now recognized that the stranger 
was a Britisher, and preparations were at once made to sink 
the Aud rather than allow its cargo to fall into the hands of 
the enemy. At the same time the German captain kept 
changing his course to the south in order to defer the fatal 
encounter as long as might be. 

Fortune favored the merchantman on this occasion. The 
April twilight was fast fading when the destroyer, now 
apparently convinced that there was something worthy of 
investigation about the seemingly inoffensive merchantman, 
ran up a signal to halt. Trusting to the fact that the in- 
creasing darkness might be accepted as an excuse for not 
seeing the signal, the German captain ignored it altogether 
and veered his course still further to the south. Then a 
tongue of flame was seen to flash from the warship, and a 
shot splashed ahead of the Aud as a last warning to heave to. 
The reply of the Aud was to crowd on all steam, and dash 
into the darkness that had now descended like a pall over the 
sea. Another shot followed the first, and came dangerously 
close to the fugitive. But pitch-like darkness had now en- 
veloped the scene, and, with every light doused, the Aud 
turned suddenly on her course, striking sharp towards the 
north. Every second her crew expected to see the searchlight 
from the destroyer sweep over the waves, which were rising 
rapidly under a stiff northwesterly wind. But, for some 
reason, their expectations were not realized. There were a 
couple more spurts of flame as the warship sent random shots 
shrieking into the darkness. The second of these was away 
to the south, so that it was apparent the maneuver of the 
Aud had been successful, and that the destroyer had not 
discovered the German ruse. The wind was then blowing a 
gale, and the Aud pressed on steam and followed on her 
course. 

A few days later the vessel ran within sight of a British 
submarine which was traveling on the surface. The enemy 
submersible, however, passed within half a mile of the German 
ship without taking the slightest notice of her. The crew of 



250 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

the Aud gathered at the rail to look at the British vessel going 
past, and went so far as to wave their caps in salutation. 
But the enemy passed without acknowledgment, and this 
danger was also safely surmounted. A little later the same 
day an incoming Scandinavian-American liner, Oscar II, Mr. 
Ford's famous Peace Ship, was sighted and greetings ex- 
changed. The rest of the voyage, with the exception of its 
termination, passed without incident. 

It is not uninteresting to note that the much-vaunted 
blockade which the British Order in Council established to 
prevent food getting to Germany, did not seem to be very 
much in evidence. With the single exception of the de- 
stroyer, the Aud saw nothing that challenged its right of way. 
The mighty British fleet seemed to have vanished off the 
face of the waters. 

On the evening of Wednesday, April 19, the lookout on the 
Aud reported land ahead. This was the Kerry Coast, and 
the Captain, his destination in sight, decided to lay off for 
the night. He had made the voyage in shorter time than he 
had expected, and it was probable that those to whom the 
arms were being consigned would not be on hand to meet 
him if he made a landing. The coast is well indented, and 
he decided that he would have plenty of shelter for a week ii 
need be. Not being acquainted with the coast, he also decided 
to defer going in further till the next morning, when he would 
be better able to pick his way. Therefore, the Aud lay off 
the Irish coast for the night, with all lights out and under 
easy steam, and awaited the coming of the dawn. 

Early the following morning, Thursday, April 20, the Aud 
began to move in towards the coast. An hour later smoke 
was sighted trailing away on the horizon towards Queens town. 
It was thought at first that this might be some passing liner, 
but it soon became evident that it was another British 
man-of-war, this time an armored cruiser. On sighting the 
Aud, this vessel turned directly towards the German vessel, 
and increased its speed at the same time. 

Consternation reigned aboard the Aud, for on this occasion 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 251 

there was no favoring darkness or high sea to facilitate escape. 
Furthermore, it was immediately obvious that the new arrival 
was determined to come to close quarters with the Aud and, 
under the circumstances, investigation meant certain capture. 
The Aud still pressed on towards the Irish coast, in the forlorn 
hope that aid might be forthcoming from that quarter, but 
the glasses revealed that the coast was desolate and deserted, 
and the conviction grew on the captain and the crew that 
they had arrived too soon, and would be left to their fate. 

The Aud was still well out from the coast when a shot 
from the British cruiser carried the first peremptory command 
to halt. The Captain and his officers were on the bridge, 
and watched the spray spring up where the shell struck the 
water only a few feet ahead of them. It was bitter that they 
should fail when thus in sight of their goal, but their minds 
were made up now, as they had been before they had started 
on their journey. They might not be able to deliver their 
cargo into the hands of the men who had asked them for it, 
but they would certainly never allow it to fall into the hands 
of the enemy. 

A contemptuous disregard was the only notice taken of the 
warning shot, but now the Captain of the Aud gave two curt 
orders, and his junior officer ran down from the bridge to 
have them carried out. The enemy cruiser was now within 
close range, and the Aud was still going full speed ahead. A 
hoarse command was roared through a trumpet from the 
cruiser. At the same moment, as though in reply, the German 
flag broke from the masthead of the Aud, to be greeted with 
a ringing cheer from the crew. The cruiser swerved a point 
or two in her oncoming course as though in amazement at 
the audacity of her diminutive foe, and then a second shot 
from the warship whistled overhead. While the gunners were 
lowering their pieces to get the range for a more effective 
blow, the deck of the Aud flew into the air. There was a 
thundering rumble, a burst of smoke and a sheet of flame, 
and, before the British were able to realize what was happen- 
ing, the Aud, with her colors flying at her solitary mast, her 



252 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

sides gaping wide to the waves, filled and sank. Her crew 
had blown her up rather than surrender. The British had 
been robbed of their prey. 

Had it not been for the warning conveyed to the British 
Government, which immediately established a cruiser patrol, 
the Aud would have delivered her cargo in Ireland into the 
hands of the Irish Republicans, waiting under arms to receive 
them. That warning, besides its other effects, was responsible 
for the death of the men on the Aud — as gallant a skipper 
and as gallant a crew as ever set sail on the high seas. But 
for that warning one of the most daring expeditions in naval 
history would certainly have been crowned with success. 

Late that night, while the wreck of what had been the Aud 
was lying a mile or more out at sea, the submarine carrying 
Roger Casement and his two companions was lying submerged 
almost on the same spot. When the first thin streak of light 
heralded the coming of another day, she rose to the surface 
and picked her way towards the coast. This was Friday, 
April 21. Having approached as close as she could, the 
submarine let down a collapsible boat over the side, and three 
men rowed ashore. They pulled the boat a little way up on 
the sand and turned to wave a farewell to the submarine. 
But that vessel had vanished. Casement and his two friends 
walked inland and were also soon out of sight. 

They had barely disappeared when another figure was seen 
coming along the strand. This was a fisherman. He paused 
when he saw the stranded boat that had been left behind. 
He then stooped and began curiously to examine the foot- 
prints that remained in the soft sand left by the ebbing tide. 



CHAPTER XL 

Planning a Pogrom 

DURING the period which elapsed between the end of 
March and the arrival of Roger Casement in Ireland, 
the British military and Government oflScials were 
prosecuting, with greater severity than ever, that policy which 
had, in the first instance, been the cause of the beginnings 
of the trouble, and the continuance of which had forced the 
Irish leaders to the conclusion that they had either to strike 
a blow for their own liberties or fight for England against a 
friendly power. 

Early in the month of April it became known that the 
Government had under very serious consideration the seizure 
of all arms found in the possession of Irish Volunteers, and 
the deportation to England and Scotland of all the leaders 
of that organization. The feeling against the acts that had 
already been committed in the name of the law by the mili- 
tary and the open insult and provocation to which the Vol- 
unteers and their leaders were subjected daily in the streets 
of Dublin by British officers, brought about a series of 
public meetings which were held on April 7, 1916. These 
meetings were held to protest against the deportation orders 
and to enlist recruits for the Irish Volunteers. The speeches 
delivered at these meetings were in the plainest of plain 
language, and told the Government that the actions of its 
officials, if persisted in, would inevitably lead to an open 
breach, and that any attempt to disarm the Volunteers would 
result in some persons being shot. 

On the same day, April 7, Francis Sheehy-Skeffington, a 
man of brilliant attainments who was not connected with the 
Volunteers or any of the various organizations affiliated with 
them, wrote the following letter to Sidney Webb, the editor of 



254 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

a London magazine, The New Statesman, in which he pointed 
out, with almost prophetic vision, the result of the course on 
which the Government in Ireland had embarked. The editor 
printed the letter weeks after the Rebellion was at an end, 
saying that he had laid it aside in a pigeon-hole when he 
received it, and had not published it because he "did not 
think that to do so would serve any useful purpose.*' The 
reader can best judge of the useful purpose its publication 
might have served, when he views the events that followed 
within two weeks of the writing of the letter. The letter 
read as follows: 

To the Editor of The New Statesman: 

Sir, — The situation in Ireland is extremely grave. Thanks to 
the silence of the daily press, the military authorities are pursuing 
their Prussian plans in Ireland unobserved by the British public; 
and, when the explosion which they have provoked occurs, they 
will endeavor to delude the British public as to where the responsi- 
bility lies. I write in the hope that, despite war-fever, there may be 
enough sanity and common sense left to restrain the militarists 
while there is yet time. 

I will not take up your space by recounting the events that have 
led up to the present situation — the two years' immunity accorded 
Sir Edward Carson's Volunteers in their defiant illegalities, the sys- 
tematic persecution of the Irish Volunteers from the moment of their 
formation {nine months before the war), the militarist provocations, 
raids on printing oflBces, arbitrary deportations and savage sentences 
which have punctuated Mr. Redmond's recruiting appeals for the 
past eighteen months. As a result of this recent series of events, 
Irish Nationalist and labor opinion is now in a state of extreme ex- 
asperation. Recruiting for the British army is dead; recruiting for 
the Irish Volunteers has, at the moment, almost reached the mark 
of 1000 per week — which is Lord Wimborne's demand for the 
British army. A special stimulus has been given to the Irish Volun- 
teer movement by the arrest and threatened forcible deportation — 
at the moment of writing it is still uncertain whether the threat will 
be carried out — of two of its most active organizers. 

There are two distinct danger-points in the position. In the first 
place, the Irish Volunteers are prepared, if any attempt is made 
forcibly to disarm them, to resist, and to defend their rifles with 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 ^55 

their lives. In the second place, the Irish Citizen Army (The Labor 
Volunteers) are prepared to oflFer similar resistance, not only to dis- 
armament, but to any attack upon the Press which turns out The 
Workers' Republic — successor to the suppressed Irish Worker — 
which is printed in Liberty Hall. 

There is no bluff in either case. That was shown (1) in TuUa- 
more on March 20th, when an attempt at disarming the small local 
corps of Irish Volunteers was met with revolver shots and a police- 
man was wounded — fortunately not seriously; (2) in Dublin, on 
March 24th, and following days, when, at the rumor of an intended 
raid on The Worker's Republic, the Irish Citizen Army stood guard 
day and night in Liberty Hall — many of them having thrown up 
their jobs to answer promptly the mobilization order — armed and 
prepared to sell their lives dearly. The British military authorities 
in Ireland know perfectly well that the members of both these or- 
ganizations are earnest, determined men. If, knowing this. General 
Friend and his subordinate militarists proceed either to disarm the 
Volunteers or to raid the Labor Press, it can only be because they 
want bloodshed — because they want to provoke another '98, and 
to get an excuse for a machine-gun massacre. 

Irish pacifists who have watched the situation closely are con- 
vinced that this is precisely what the militarists do want. The 
younger English oflScers in Dublin make no secret of their eagerness 
'*to have a whack at the Sinn Feiners"; they would much rather 
fight them than the Germans. They are spmred on by the Carson- 
Northcliffe conscriptionist gang in London; on April 5th The Morn- 
ing Post vehemently demanded the suppression of The Worker's 
Republic; on April 6th a question was put down in the House of 
Commons urging Mr. Birrell to disarm the Irish Volunteers. These 
gentry know well the precise points where a pogrom can most easily 
be started. 

Twice already General Friend has been on the point of setting 
Ireland in a blaze — once last November, when he had a warrant 
made out for the arrest of Bishop O'Dwyer, of Limerick; once on 
March 25th, when he had a detachment of soldiers with machine 
guns in readiness to raid Liberty Hall. In both cases Mr. Birrell 
intervened in the nick of time and decisively vetoed the militarist 
plans. But some day Mr. Birrell may be overborne or may inter- 
vene too late. Then, once bloodshed is started in Ireland, who can 
say where or how it will end.? 

In the midst of the worldwide carnage, bloodshed in our little 



Q5Q HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

island may seem a trivial thing. The wiping out of all the Irish 
Volunteers and Labor Volunteers would hardly involve as much 
slaughter as the single battle of Loos. Doubtless that is the mili- 
tarist calculation — that their crime may be overlooked in a world 
of criminals. Accordingly, the nearer peace com,es, the more eager 
will they be to force a conflict before their chance vanishes. Is there 
in Great Britain enough real sympathy with Small Nationalities, 
enough real hatred of militarism, to frustrate this Pogrom Plot of 
British Militarist Junkerdom.? 

Yours, etc., 

F. Sheehy-SkeflSngton. 
Ajrril, 7tK 1916. 

The day after this was written the Chief Commissioner of 
the Royal Irish Constabulary made a report to the Under- 
secretary, and that document shows clearly the view that 
Colonel Edgeworth-Johnson took of the situation, especially 
in regard to the recruiting meetings of the Irish Volunteers, 
for he says, in part: 

These recruiting meetings are a very undesirable development, 
and are, I think, causing both annoyance and uneasiness amongst 
loyal citizens. . . . The Sinn Fein Party are gaining in numbers, in 
equipment, in discipline, and in confidence, and I think drastic 
action should be taken to limit their activities. The longer it is 
postponed, the more diflficult it will be to carry out. 

On April 10 this report reached the Undersecretary, who 
wrote on it: "Chief Secretary and Lord Lieutenant to see 
the Chief Commissioner's minute." On April 12 the Chief 
Secretary wrote upon it: "Requires careful consideration. 
Is it thought practicable to undertake a policy of disarma- 
ment, and, if so, within what limits, if any, can it be circum- 
scribed?'* Upon the same day the Lord Lieutenant wrote 
upon it: "This is a difficult point. Could the disarming be 
satisfactorily effected?" 

It will thus be observed that little by little the efforts of 
those who were desirous of causing bloodshed were forcing 
the hand of the Chief Secretary, who had certainly, up to this 
time, done all in his power to keep the peace, and had reso- 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 257 

lutely refused to allow himself to be made the catspaw of 
those who were anxious for a massacre. It is probably owing 
to this that he was forced to shoulder the responsibility at a 
later period. 

The arrest of the two Volunteer organizers, Ernest Blythe 
and William Mellows, which has already been recorded, 
aroused a storm of protest throughout the country. It was 
judged, and rightly, that this was but the prelude to further 
arrests, and that a policy of disarming the Irish Volunteers, of 
interning their leaders in England and of then enforcing 
conscription in Ireland, was being inaugurated by the Govern- 
ment. On April 9, Blythe and Mellows were removed from 
Dublin to Kingstown under military escort en route for 
England, and close on two thousand of the Dublin Volunteers 
paraded through the streets of the city that same day as a 
protest. This was an entirely peaceful protest without any 
attempt at violence, the only object of the demonstrators 
being to show the authorities that the policy they were pur- 
suing was one that might have disastrous results if carried any 
further. 

On the following day, April 10, another significant incident 
took place. Shortly before one o'clock in the afternoon 
another parade of two companies of the Volunteers was being 
held, and the men were marching from Grafton Street to 
Stephen's Green West. A trolley car, bound from Nelson's 
Pillar to Terenure, was coming along and the driver shouted 
to the Volunteers to get out of his way, at the same time 
announcing in very vile language that, if they did not, he 
would run the car over them. At this an Irish Volunteer 
cyclist jumped off his machine, placed the bicycle in front of 
the trolley car, opened his revolver pouch, put his hand on 
the stock of the weapon, and told the motorman to carry 
out his threat. The latter lapsed into silence, and held his 
car where it was until the Volunteers had passed. The 
cyclist then mounted his machine and rejoined his comrades. 
The motorman lost no time in reporting the incident to the 
police, who, in turn, reported the insolence of the mere Irish 



258 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

to the Chief Secretary with another request that he take 
action. 

Mr. Redmond and his friends were not inclined to take much 
notice of this incident. They did not hke to think that an 
Irishman would dare to tell a trolley-car driver to halt, while 
the Irish Volunteers passed in front of it. Redmond's official 
organ, The Freeman s Journal, however, begged that the 
Castle authorities might not be too harsh on the men. Refer- 
ring editorially to the incident. The Freeman said: 

This was a very reprehensible proceeding. But it is the sort of 
behavior which it is easy for the authorities to take too seriously. 
There are hotheads in the Sinn Fein movement who would be de- 
lighted if they could induce, not merely tram conductors, but the 
highest military authorities, to "come along." But it seems evident 
to the ordinary man of common sense that, the hotter the heads of 
the Sinn Feiners, the cooler should be the heads of those responsible 
for public order. . . . They are urged constantly in the English 
Press to "make examples" of the Sinn Feiners, and "stamp out" 
their movement. We do not believe that the result is worth the 
trouble. We do not believe that the advice is honestly motived. 
It comes from people who think they see political profit from scenes 
of violence in Ireland. If it is a good rule to do nothing during the 
war to gratify the Germans, there can be no doubt as to the wisest 
course for the authorities. The German papers and the German- 
subsidized journals in the United States would welcome any such 
excuse for representing Ireland as hostile to the war as would be 
afforded by some of the methods so often urged on those civilians 
and soldiers responsible for the peace of Ireland. . . . There is cer- 
tainly no disaffection in Ireland that would make "stamping it out" 
a necessary or a useful process. 

This in spite of the facts that were in Redmond's possession 
at the time, as has been shown by the official letter of the 
previous December. It will be interesting to note that the 
main reason why The Freeman did not want the stamping 
out process was because it might be a satisfaction to the 
Germans during the war. After the war, forsooth, things 
might be dealt with differently. It is curious to find a seK- 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 259 

styled Irish newspaper thus discussing a stand which any 
spirited man would have taken in answer to a vulgar insult, 
whether from a trolley driver or anyone else. It is evident 
that The Freeman and those for whom it spoke had little 
manhood and much less nationality left. 

On the same day that this nonsense was printed, news 
leaked out showing that the military hotheads were at work. 
It had apparently become known to the police authorities, in 
spite of the fact that no secret was made about it, that a 
consignment of small arms was being conveyed from Wexford 
to either the Irish Volunteers or the Citizen Army in Dublin 
on the afternoon of April 9. Both the Volunteers and the 
Citizen Army were engaged in drill and other exercises that 
afternoon, following a parade held earlier in the day. 

All the police at the command of the Castle were on watch 
for developments. There was a thrill among the men in blue 
when an automobile, bearing the communicated number, 
entered the city from a southerly direction shortly after 
half -past four in the afternoon. At the corner of Grafton 
Street and College Green the car was halted by the police, 
and it and those in it were taken to the Great Brunswick 
Street police station. No resistance was offered by the driver, 
who was accompanied by another young man. The two men 
gave their names as Joseph Coyle and Patrick Kenny, and 
said that they had come from Ferns, County Wexford. On the 
car being searched, it was found to contain fourteen rifles 
and three revolvers. These were confiscated and so was the 
car. The two men were held pending an investigation by the 
military authorities. 

With this incident the efforts of the military to force the 
hand of the Volunteers were redoubled. Possibly they felt 
that the time to make any conciliatory overtures had passed, 
and that the only thing left to them to do was to force a 
premature rising and to have their men and machine guns 
posted ready to mow down the Volunteers should they make 
any attempt to resist the order for disarmament. 

Then, on Wednesday, April 19, came the dramatic dis- 



260 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

closure of the actual orders which the planners of the pogrom 
had secretly issued to the military. This was read in open 
session at the meeting of the Dublin Corporation by Alderman 
Thomas Kelly, who said that it had been furnished to him 
by Mr. Little, the editor of New Ireland, The document 
reads, in part, as follows: 



The following precautionary measures have been sanctioned by 
the Irish Office on the recommendation of the General Officer Com- 
manding the Forces in Ireland. All preparations will be made to put 
these measures in force immediately on receipt of an order issued 
from the Chief Secretary's Office, Dublin Castle, and signed by the 
Undersecretary and the General Officer Commanding the Forces 
in Ireland. First, the following persons are to be placed under 
arrest: — All members of the Sinn Fein National Council, the Cen- 
tral Executive Irish Sinn Fein Volunteers, General Council Irish 
Sinn Fein Volunteers, County Board Irish Sinn Fein Volunteers, 
Executive Committee National Volimteers, Coisde Gonta Commit- 
tee Gaelic League. See list A3 and 4 and supplementary list A 2. 
. . . Metropolitan Police and Royal Irish Constabulary forces in 
Dublin City will be confined to barracks under the direction of 
the Competent Military Authority. An order will be issued to in- 
habitants of city to remain in their houses until such time as the 
Competent Military Authority may otherwise direct or permit. 
Pickets chosen from units of Territorial forces will be placed at 
all points marked on Maps 3 and 4. Accompanying mounted 
patrols will continuously visit all points and report every hour. 
The following premises will be occupied by adequate forces, and 
all necessary measures used without need of reference to Head- 
quarters. First, premises known as Liberty Hall, Beresford Place; 
No. 6 Harcourt street, Sinn Fein Building; No. 2 Dawson street. 
Headquarters Volunteers; No. 12 D'Olier street, "Nationality" 
Office; No. 25 Rutland Square, Gaelic League Office; No. 41 Rut- 
land Square, Forester's Hall; Sinn Feia Volunteer premises in City; 
all National Volunteer premises in city; Trades Council premises, 
Capel street; Surrey House, Leinster Road, Rathmines. The fol- 
lowing 'premises will he isolated, and all communication to or from 
prevented: — premises known as Archbishop's House, Drumcondra; 
Mansion House, Dawson street; No. 40 Herbert Park; Larkfield, 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 261 

Kimmage Road; Woodtown Park, Ballyboden; Saint Enda's Col- 
lege, Hermitage, Rathfarnham; and in addition premises in list 5 D, 
see Maps 3 and 4. 

This was the tense and critical situation that prevailed in 
Ireland when Sir Roger Casement arrived. 



CHAPTER XLI 

The Fatal Order 

THE exasperating discovery that rifles and ammunition 
were in the hands of the Irish Volunteers, and that 
these were men who would not brook insult even 
from a trolley-car driver, roused the Tory papers both in 
England and in the north of Ireland to a fury of indignation. 
These were things which must not be tolerated by the Govern- 
ment, said those papers, which, a few short months before, 
had been telling the same Government that they would 
transfer their loyalty to the German Kaiser if the Government 
dared to put into operation the Home Rule Bill. 

Ireland's supposed leaders in the Parliamentary Party had 
joined hands with the British, and had quietly acquiesced in 
every insult that had been heaped on Irish men and Irish 
women by the British Government and British soldiers in 
Dublin. It mattered not to them that Irish men should be 
imprisoned and deported, and that Irish girls should be 
violated in the streets of their own cities. But it did matter 
to them that Irishmen should dare to take arms into their 
hands for the purpose of defending the honor of their women 
and themselves. Such were the conditions in Ireland at 
the end of the second week of April, 1916, that only a nation 
of spiritless slaves would have remained silent and inactive. 
When, in addition to these things, it was known to the leaders 
of the Volunteers that the Government was planning, with 
the concurrence of the Parliamentary Party, to disarm them 
and then to conscript them, the wonder is not that they 
resolved to sell their lives in one desperate protest, but that 
they were able to contain themselves and their followers so long. 
Certain men had been dispatched by the Volunteer leaders 
to meet the cargo of German arms that had been sent on the 



THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 263 

Aud. This cargo was not, however, expected before Easter 
Sunday, and this is the reason why they were not present 
when that vessel arrived off the coast. The news that she 
had been discovered by the British cruiser did not reach 
them for some time later. Instead they met Roger Casement, 
who had succeeded in landing and making his way inland. 

Their meeting with Casement was one of those chances of 
fortune that influence the destinies of nations. The meeting 
took place in a small cottage not three miles from the place 
of landing. Casement knew the men, for he had come into 
contact with them when he was working with the Volunteers 
prior to his visit to the United States. His first request, 
and in fact his only one, was that they would take a message 
for him to Eoin MacNeill in Dublin. It would appear that 
he did not trust to the chance that he himself would be able 
to get that far without arrest. He did not say to these men 
what the exact terms of his message was, but wrote it down 
and sealed it, after addressing it to the Volunteer leader. 
Owing to the representations that Casement made regarding 
the urgency of the communication, no time was lost in con- 
veying it to Dublin and by Friday afternoon, April 21, 
Casement's message was placed in the hands of MacNeill. 
It had been carried at express speed by automobile from 
Kerry to the Irish capital. 

It is probable that the exact wording of this historic docu- 
ment will never be known, but the tenor of the message that 
caused disaster to Ireland is known beyond doubt. Acting in 
all sincerity. Casement told Eoin MacNeill that there was no 
hope of any help from the Germans, that the latter had all 
the work on hand they could ever hope to accomplish, and 
that it was useless to expect they would be able to assist 
Ireland. He told MacNeill that he had traveled from Ger- 
many, and had risked his life to prevent useless bloodshed in 
Ireland, and begged of him, for the sake of Ireland and for 
the sake of the Volunteers, to prevent any attempt at a 
rising. 

In making these statements Casement was acting only on 



^64 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

the information which he had at that time, for he was not 
famihar with the actual condition of affairs in Ireland. Case- 
ment knew nothing at all of the plot that had been hatched 
to disarm the Volunteers — and to wipe them out if they re- 
sisted — and then to enforce conscription. His absence from 
Ireland since the outbreak of the war accounted for his 
ignorance of these facts. In acting as he did, he was cer- 
tainly doing what he believed to be the best for Ireland. 

This communication came like a bombshell into the camp 
of the Irish Volunteers. Were it not that the man who had 
brought it was completely in the trust of the Volunteers and 
was able to vouch for the fact that Casement had himseK 
written the message, it is probable that it would have been 
rejected as a ruse on the part of the enemy. The fact that 
Casement was not expected in Ireland made the matter all 
the more mysterious. It was not unreasonable to argue that 
a man would not have taken such risks with his life, unless 
he knew what he was doing and that his statements were 
founded on absolute facts. 

It was not the statement that the Germans could not for 
the present lend much active assistance to the Volimteers 
that caused the most consternation to the leaders. They had 
laid their plans in a manner that rendered them more or less 
independent of outside help for some time after they had 
declared the Republic. During this time they counted on 
being able to create a diversion that would have a big effect 
in the world war, and, once in possession of the Irish posts, 
they could offer a safe haven to German submarines. What 
did matter, however, was the statement that the Germans 
were sending only 2000 old rifles. This must have been 
considered by MacNeill a breach of trust, and one that would 
seriously interfere with the rising in the southern part of the 
country. The German arms were counted on to arm the 
men of the south, and their loss would be a serious matter. 

By this time the arrangements of the Volunteers was 
complete. In their oflBcial organ, The Irish Volunteer^ of that 
week, the following notice was published: 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 265 

HEADQUARTERS BULLETIN 

Arrangements are now nearing completion in all the more impor- 
tant brigade areas for the holding of a very interesting series of 
manoeuvres at Easter. In some instances the arrangements contem- 
plate a one or two days' bivouac. As for Easter, the Dublin pro- 
gramme may well stand as a model for other areas. 

Readers of the foregoing chapters will not require to be 
told the meaning of this order. It meant that the time had 
come when Ireland was again to try conclusions with her old 
enemy; that the time had passed for negotiations and com- 
promise, and that the Irish people had been driven to the 
last resort by the continued treachery of their own leaders and 
the determined efforts of the military plotters to force the 
hands of the leaders. In addition to all this, the Volunteers 
had learned that these same plotters had at last succeeded in 
their efforts, and that arrangements had already been made 
to disarm the Volunteers and place Ireland under the ban of 
conscription. 

The position in which Eoin MacNeill found himself when 
he had placed in his hands the disconcerting message from 
Roger Casement may, therefore, well be realized. He was 
the man who had, at other times, curbed the seemingly 
impetuous spirits among the leaders, who were anxious to 
declare a rising months before. He was the man who had 
been the leader of the Volunteers from the beginning, and 
who had steered the organization through very stormy seas 
until it had come to be the one factor that still held out in 
Ireland for the rights of Ireland a Nation. No one could 
realize better than he the vast responsibility that rested on 
him at that moment. He knew that the plans had been 
made for the rising on Easter Sunday; he knew also that 
everything was ready, that the preliminaries had been ar- 
ranged, and that the Volunteers were to declare an Irish 
Republic within forty-eight hours. Yet the caution that 
characterized the man, and the faith that he placed in the 
reliability of Casement, whom he had known for many years 



^66 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

and whom he had learned to love and to trust, could not be 
set aside in a moment. After all, it appeared to him that it 
would be better to act in accordance with the message and 
to defer action for at least another week, until they had had 
time thoroughly to discuss the situation. 

There was no time for mature consideration and reflection. 
If he were to act, he must act at once. In order to be 
effective, an order calling off the Easter "maneuvres" would 
have to be inserted in the newspapers of the following day. 
It would not be possible to get into touch with all of the 
branches in any other manner. The Dublin evening papers 
usually go to press earlier with their last editions on Saturdays 
than on other week-days, and there was little time to lose if 
he was to get his notice into the papers in time for their 
final editions. 

While he was thus torn between these points of the problem, 
he received a private message in code informing him that the 
German vessel had been sunk and that Casement was a 
prisoner. This decided him. There was, he reasoned, nothing 
else to do but to call off the manoeuvres for Easter Sunday, 
get the committee together in special session, and talk over 
the matter. It is the one unfortunate fact that Professor 
MacNeill did not realize that the time had passed for discus- 
sion, that the Government had its mind made up, and that 
there was nothing left for the Volunteers to do but to fight 
or submit to being disarmed. 

A hurried call was sent out to the various members of the 
Volunteer Committee, and, late that evening, a conference 
was held in the house of Eoin MacNeill. MacNeill put the 
matter before them, and urged that the orders be counter- 
manded. To this there were many who did not agree, who 
pointed out that the matter had gone too far, that the 
Volunteers had either to fight or be disarmed, and that a 
day's delay might be fatal. At the same time a conference 
was proceeding in Liberty Hall, where those who had drawn 
up the Proclamation of the Republic and had determined that 
they would fight even with their bare hands, were in session. 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 267 

Thomas MacDonagh made several trips between the two 
conferences, and, on the occasion of his last visit to the home 
of Eoin MacNeill, he stated that the other men were de- 
termined to go ahead with the plans already made and that 
no orders to the contrary were to be issued. Nevertheless 
the conference at MacNeill's home continued until the small 
hours of Saturday morning, when it broke up without any 
definite plan being decided on. 

The last edition of the Dublin Evening Herald of that 
Saturday contained a notice, signed "MacNeill, Chief of 
Staff," countermanding the orders for the maneuvers. At 
the same time, in order to make assurance doubly sure, 
telegraphic messages were sent broadcast to every parish 
priest in the country, asking him to make a similar announce- 
ment from the pulpit at the services the following day. This 
was the fatal act that broke the back of the Rebellion. 

Let us now, for a moment, turn back to the time when 
Casement landed on the coast of Kerry. The man who had 
noticed the overturned boat in which Casement had landed, 
and whose name was John McCarthy, lost no time in com- 
municating the fact of his discovery to the police. The 
authorities had received a warning to keep a vigilant watch 
along the coast following the information they had received 
from America regarding the German steamer. The police, 
therefore, lost no time in tracing Casement, and, a short 
while after he had managed to dispatch his message to 
MacNeill, Casement was found and promptly placed under 
arrest. He made no resistance, and the moment that he 
found himself a prisoner in the hands of the English he knew 
that his life would pay the forfeit. 

On the evening of April 22 it was known to the authorities 
that the man who had been arrested was none other than Sir 
Roger Casement, the man whom the English had been striving 
to apprehend and for whose murder they had been ready to 
sacrifice the honor of the British Empire. While this caused 
no little satisfaction to the Dublin Castle authorities, it 
nevertheless gave them reason to believe that matters of 



268 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

serious moment were afoot. The Castle became panic- 
stricken. Various military officers of the highest standing 
demanded that there was only one thing to be done, and that 
was to secure the immediate arrest of all the Sinn Fein leaders 
throughout the country without further loss of time. They 
urged that the landing of Roger Casement and consignment 
of the cargo of arms from Germany were proof positive that 
rebellion was being planned, and they pointed out that there 
was not a moment to lose. They then attached the greatest 
and most sinister significance to the order for the "Easter 
maneuvers" of the Volunteers, and sagaciously observed, one 
to another, that this could mean nothing more than a signal 
for a rising. 

That evening a conference was called in Dublin Castle at 
which all the members of the British Government in Ireland, 
with the exception of Chief Secretary Birrell, were present. 
While the conference was sitting, information was received to 
the effect that MacNeill had ordered off the maneuvers for 
Sunday, and thus some of the more dangerous symptoms of 
the situation seemed to have been relieved. There can be 
little doubt that this information was greeted with a sigh of 
thankfulness by Ireland's masters, as they sat in their room 
between the towers of the Castle that Saturday evening. 

Meanwhile the police all over the country, acting on rush 
orders from the Government, were keeping the Irish Volun- 
teers under strict surveillance. There was not a section or a 
battalion of that organization that was not rigidly scrutinized. 
The King's ministers sat up till midnight receiving reports 
from the police throughout the land, and they did not dare to 
retire to their troubled slumbers until they had assured 
themselves that there had been no movement of the "rebel 
troops," by which name the Irish Volunteers were by this 
time designated. 

Thus passed that historic Saturday, April 22, 1916. The 
German arms were at the bottom of the sea; Casement was a 
prisoner; the rising had been declared off; and the emissaries 
of the British Government were sitting up in their Castle of 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 269 

Dublin, trembling at the shadows on the wall cast by the 
flickering lights from Cork Hill, and dreading every moment 
to hear the first crash of the storm which they had themselves 
aroused, and which they now feared was beyond their strength 
to control. 



CHAPTER XLII 

The O'Rahilly's Ride 

IT soon became obvious that Eoin MacNeill was de- 
termined that there should be no rebellion in Ireland at 
Easter. In addition to the notice which appeared in 
the Dublin Evening Herald on Saturday evening, and the 
messages to the priests throughout the country, he decided 
on other measures. He called The O'Rahilly to his house 
and, having explained the situation, asked him to assist and 
find means to make sure of notifying the south that the 
rising had been postponed. 

The O'Rahilly was evidently impressed by the reasons 
which MacNeill offered why the rising should not take place 
as scheduled. He was essentially a man of energy and 
action, and yet he was suflBciently a man of military instincts 
to accept without question the orders of his chief. MacNeill, 
it would appear, did not call him to consult as to the ad- 
visability of postponing the Rebellion; that had alreadj^ 
been decided on, in MacNeilFs opinion, and action had been 
taken. What The O'Rahilly was asked to do was to assist 
in the carrying out of the orders of his chief, and he was 
ready to do whatever lay in his power. 

MacNeill explained, as The O'Rahilly well knew, that the 
south was one of the chief centers on which they had relied. 
The cargo of arms on the Aud was intended for the arming 
of the men of Cork, Limerick, and all along the coast line of 
Wexford and Wicklow to the Dublin Mountains. With this 
cargo at the bottom of the sea there remained less chance of 
the men of this section of the country being able to put up 
an effective fight, yet MacNeill also must have known that 
these men, even with the arms at their disposal, would not 
hesitate to obey the orders they had received and would 



THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 ^71 

have declared the Rebellion at the time stated if nothing was 
done to prevent them. MacNeill was also not certain that 
they would get the messages in time, and that they might 
not doubt their authenticity even if they did receive them. 

It was, therefore, as he explained to The O'Rahilly, his 
desire that a personal message should be sent to the com- 
manders in these districts, explaining why the rising had 
been postponed. As soon as he heard this, The O'Rahilly, 
with a vision of unarmed men being slaughtered by the 
machine guns of the English, volunteered to take the message 
personally in his automobile, and, MacNeill agreeing. The 
O'Rahilly immediately left the house, proceeded home, 
explained to his wife where he was going and why, and a 
little while later was on his way. 

There is something peculiarly appealing in this ride of The 
O'Rahilly. In other countries there have been rides that 
have become matters of history, and have retained their 
place in the records of the people in popular song and story. 
Paul Revere 's Ride will for all time be remembered in the his- 
tory of the United States, and, in like manner, future genera- 
tions may remember The O'Rahilly 's Ride, undertaken at the 
command of his chief for the purpose, as he believed, of 
preventing the wholesale killing of his brave and gallant 
countrymen of the south. 

Starting late on Saturday night. The O'Rahilly drove his 
car south from Dublin. Taking the road through Bray, he 
was soon flying at top speed through the hills and glens of 
Wicklow, the Garden County of Ireland, and the scene of 
some of the most famous incidents in the history of the land. 
He drove ea-st to the coast, passed the word at Wicklow, and 
then turned southeast to Rathdrum. From here it was a 
short run to Arklow. Then on he sped again to Gorey and 
Enniscorthy, where his news was received with incredulous 
amazement. Later events showed how the men of that fine 
old town responded to the call a few hours later. 

Towards midnight The O'Rahilly was rushing towards 
Wexford, along roads and past villages where, a century 



272 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

before, the British had been forced to flee in wild disorder 
from Irish pikes. It was far later still when he brought the 
word to Waterford. Turning then inland, he sped through 
the land of the Decies and the Ormonds. Past many a famed 
battlefield the word was carried that there was to be no 
Rebellion, that the plans had failed tor the time being, and 
that the arms they had hoped for could no longer be secured. 
We can imagine with what mingled feelings The O'Rahilly 
was received. In one place after another the men were up, 
and the arrival of the messenger filled them with hope that 
he had come with the final instructions for the fighting. 
The men of the south had borne the insult and the contu- 
mely of the foreigner for many months — not to mention past 
years — in comparative silence, because they had been told 
that the time was coming, that the day would soon dawn, 
when they would be able to strike a blow for freedom and 
to avenge their wrongs. And now it was all over, at least 
for the present; the arms they wanted had not arrived and 
would not arrive, and they were still to go on in the same old 
way. 

At Limerick The O'Rahilly heard that the men of Cork 
had already received the tidings. In this section of the 
country the news of the sinking of the Aud had been spread 
broadcast, and consternation was in the heart of every man 
who had hoped on the morrow to be able to take his place in 
the Irish ranks. The sun was high in the heavens when The 
O'Rahilly came to the end of his journey and rested at 
Limerick. He had performed his work well; and the south 
knew that there were to be no "maneuvres." After a 
conference with the men of Limerick, he decided to remain 
with them for a short while and then return to Dublin. 

Meanwhile, throughout the rest of the country the word 
had been received that the Rebellion had been postponed. 
In the far north, away in the west, and throughout the 
midlands the priests had read to their congregations the mes- 
sage signed "MacNeill, Chief of Staff.'* All of the churches 
were crowded. Not alone was it Easter Sunday, a festi- 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 273 

val when there is always a big attendance at the early- 
Masses, but the events that had been expected had also 
contributed in no small degree to the filling of the churches. 
During the previous Friday and Saturday there had been, 
throughout the country, an unusually large number of men 
at confession. In Dublin the young men had walked along 
the streets of the city by the side of the priests, apparently 
merely engaged in conversation but in reality making their 
confessions. On Easter Sunday the same crowds had thronged 
the churches for the reception of Holy Commimion. 

The demobilizing order — for that is what it amounted to 
— came as a shock to every man in the ranks of the Volun- 
teers. They were at a loss to know what had happened to 
cause so sudden a change in the plans. Yet the order was 
imperative: there was nothing left to do but obey it, go home 
and await further developments. As a result, thousands of 
men who had assembled at the various points for the *'ma- 
neuvres" disbanded and returned to their homes in scattered 
bands of four or five. By Sunday evening it would have 
been impossible, without two or three days' work, to have 
collected the men together again as they had been on that 
Easter Sunday morning, April 23, 1916. 

It is a fact not generally known that there were two of 
these coimtermanding orders. In the first instance, Eoin 
MacNeill, as has been shown, spared no effort to spread the 
message over the country. At this time conferences were 
being held in Liberty Hall by the men who were in favor of a 
rebellion, and when the word was brought to them that 
MacNeill had called off the Rebellion, it was feared that there 
would be some who would not obey the command. In order 
that there should be no fiasco, with one or two wildly sepa- 
rated sections striking alone, Pearse decided that the best 
thing to do was to send out a confirming order, with the 
proviso that the maneuvres were called off only temporarily. 
This was done, and thus the demobilizing of the men of the 
country districts was rendered complete. 

As a result of these events the police and paid agents of the 



^274 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

Government sent word to Dublin Castle that there had been 
no movements of the Volunteers that day, and that the 
mtended ** maneuvers" had been abandoned. It requires no 
stretch of the imagination to realize the effect the receipt of 
these reports had on the authorities. For hours they had 
been seated on a volcano, with the interesting expectation 
that it was going to erupt at any moment. After a night of 
fitful slumber, with armed guards at every entrance into the 
Castle, they arose on that Sunday morning with the intention 
of taking immediate steps to make a recurrence of the recent 
crisis impossible for all future time. The first conference 
was held shortly after nine o'clock. At that time a report 
had been received to the effect that a consignment of melinite 
had been taken into Liberty Hall, the headquarters of the 
Citizen Army. This was not calculated to relieve materially 
the situation, but at the same time, as the telegraphic mes- 
sages began to arrive from the country to the effect that the 
mobilization had been postponed, the officials began to 
breathe a little easier and to comfort themselves with the 
thought that they had passed the worst. They thereupon 
set to work to plan the best way of suppressing the Volunteers 
and arresting the leaders. 

Among those who took part in these conferences were Sir 
Matthew Nathan, the energetic Undersecretary, Lord Wim- 
borne, the Lord Lieutenant of polo fame. General Friend, 
and several of the military officers. These latter, who were 
supported by General Friend and the Undersecretary, 
repeated what they had been saying for weeks before, that the 
only way out of the situation was by ordering the arrests of 
all the Volunteer leaders and all the men connected with the 
organization, seizing the arms, and breaking up the entire 
body. 

Lord Wimborne pointed out that this would certainly mean 
trouble of the worst kind; that, if this were done, there would 
be bloodshed, and the whole world would hear about it. He 
had been in America and knew something of the sentiment 
here, and he did not fail to point out that feeling across the 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 275 

Atlantic would be greatly wrought up by such measures. 
He wanted to know if there was no means of dealing with the 
situation that would prevent bloodshed. 

But these arguments were only half-hearted at the best. 
The military oflScers were soon in complete command of the 
situation. On a number of other occasions they had been 
balked in their plans, and they were evidently determined 
that they were not going to be put off any longer. They 
pointed out that the clearest possible proof of the "hostile 
association" of the Volunteers had been afforded by the 
attempt to land arms from Germany. They said that it 
had been proved that these men had deliberately conspired 
with the enemy to assist in the overthrow of the Empire. 
What they did not say, however, was that it was owing to 
their own actions and to the actions of the Empire they 
represented that the men of Ireland had been driven to 
desperation. This was a point that no one in Dublin Castle 
cared to consider. 

With regard to the shedding of blood, that did not matter 
to the military, so long as they could shed the blood of the 
Irish in a manner that would involve the minimum of risk to 
themselves. The question of American opinion was dismissed 
lightly. General Friend stating that he did not care a fig for 
America and that, if the Irish over there tried to make any 
trouble, they would very soon be settled. He even went so 
far as to state that the American Government would, if 
necessary, cause the arrest and deportation of all the Irish 
sympathizers in the United States. 

There was, then, only one question that remained to be 
decided, and that was the best means of making the arrests 
and seizing the arms. It was agreed that Liberty Hall pre- 
sented the most formidable obstacle to the carrying out of 
these plans, as, since the previous attempted raid on that 
place, armed men had been on duty day and night. It was 
known that these men would sell their lives dearly. The 
military did not relish making an attack on any armed men, 
at least not in a manner that would involve too much risk to 



276 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

themselves. There were also a number of other places through- 
out the city where resistance might be expected. 

In view of these facts it was, therefore, arranged that a 
large number of soldiers should be drafted into the city the 
following morning, and that the arrests should be carried out 
the first moment sufficient men had been secured. In order 
that there should be no mistake, it was decided that a large 
number of machine guns should be taken as quietly as possible 
to the Custom House and there trained on Liberty Hall. 
At the first sign of resistance from that quarter these guns 
would be turned on the building, and it would not take long, 
so argued these military experts, to reduce the place to an 
untenable wreck. The same tactics would be followed with 
regard to all the other places where an attempt at resistance 
was expected. It was thus believed that the Volunteers 
would either be compelled to give up their arms or else would 
be shot where they stood, and in either case the problem 
would be solved with little or no risk to the soldiery. 

It was also considered that there was a possibility of some 
of the Volunteers making a show of resistance in the streets. 
In order to avoid this, it was decided that the soldiers at the 
Curragh should be drafted into Dublin and crowd the streets, 
fully armed, so as to overawe any Volunteers who might feel 
in a belligerent mood. In fact, during the conferences at 
Dublin Castle, the military made excellent plans for the 
pogrom they had been promising themselv ^s for months past; 
and, when these plans had been completed, they prided 
themselves that the only Volunteers who would be left in the 
city after they had carried them out would be either dead or 
in jail. 

There was but one other matter necessary to complete their 
arrangements, and this was to secure the consent of Chief 
Secretary Birrell to their plans. Up to that time Birrell, 
having some sense of justice, had refused to take action against 
the Irish Volunteers and leave the "National'* and the Ulster 
Volunteers untouched and with arms in their hands. On 
this occasion, however, the military were of the opinion that 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 277 

they would be able to bring Mr. Birrell to his senses and 
force his hand. So a very urgent message was sent to London 
telling Mr. Birrell what had been proposed, and on the 
following morning, Monday, April 24, a reply was received 
from the Chief Secretary giving his consent to the arrests and 
disarmament. It happened, however, that while the British 
had been making their plans in the Castle, another conference 
was also being held, and with this we shall now proceed to 
deal. 



CHAPTER XLIII 

The Nine Hours' Conference 

IT was three o'clock on Easter Sunday morning, and 
Dublin lay in that unquiet slumber peculiar to great 
cities. The flickering lights cast strange and fantastic 
shadows that danced on the pavements as one or two belated 
pedestrians passed on their way north or south in the city. 
In the street near Amiens Street Station four or five outside 
cars awaited the possibility of a fare, the jarveys standing 
around talking in conversational tones that could be distin- 
guished half a block away. On the opposite side stood three 
policemen, close together and exchanging confidences in 
whispers. Away in the distance a clock tolled the hour. 
Far to the east, towards Fairview, there came the answering 
shriek of an engine's steam whistle. 

"The train's late to-night," remarked one of the jarveys to 
a comrade. 

"It's an early excursion," was the reply of the other. 
"The Mail got in fifteen minutes ago." 

In this, however, he was mistaken. It happened that the 
mail train from the north was a few minutes late that 
morning. There were quite a number of passengers on board, 
too, although it had been reported that many who had booked 
tickets by the Mail had failed to arrive in time. On this 
account the train had delayed a little, and, in addition, there 
had been fog here and there along the line, and this had 
interfered somewhat with the schedule. 

Among those who alighted from the train were a number 
of young girls, whose graceful and erect carriage and easy, 
almost martial swinging step denoted something out of the 
ordinary. On leaving the station they took a sharp turn to 
the left and marched, by the nearest route, direct to Beresford 



THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 279 

Place. At the door of Liberty Hall the leader of the party, a 
slim young girl, was halted by one of the two armed sentries 
who stood there on guard. 

"I am Nora Connolly, daughter of Jim Connolly," the girl 
explained, and the sentry brought his rifle back to the "pre- 
sent arms," and allowed the girls to pass into the hall. 

These were the girls of the Cumann na mBan, attached to 
the Northern Command of the Irish Volunteers and the 
Citizen Army. They had received their orders to have their 
bandages and field equipment ready for use on Easter Sunday. 
The demobilizing order had been received in the north late 
on Saturday evening, and had thrown all their arrangements 
out of gear. They had, therefore, gone to Liberty Hall for 
the purpose of finding out what had gone wrong with the 
plans for the rising. 

James Connolly was not asleep when the girls arrived. 
He was lying down for a short rest. Nora asked him what 
was the meaning of the order that had been received, and 
demanded to know if there was to be no rising after all. 

Looking very serious, James Connolly sat up in his bed, 
and was silent for a moment while he scanned the face of his 
daughter. Then he said, speaking slowly and deliberately, 
as was his wont: 

"If there is no rising, Nora, pray that an earthquake will 
come and swallow up Ireland." 

James Connolly was in close touch with everything that 
was being done by the authorities in Dublin Castle. He knew 
in advance that they were determined to strike now that they 
thought the Rebellion was indefinitely postponed. He knew 
that, if they did so, it would be the end of all the hopes and 
aspirations of a generation, for the people of Ireland would 
be left without leaders at the mercy of a British military 
tribunal, and conscription into the British army would be the 
next step. Further than this he also knew that the Volun- 
teers and the Citizen Army would be branded as cowards by 
their enemies on both sides of the channel, and that it would 
be said of them that they were afraid to fight with the British 



280 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

and afraid to fight against them; that they had been given to 
speaking big words which they did not dare to translate into 
deeds. Connolly had also heard of the sinking of the Aud and 
the capture of Roger Casement, and he rightly judged that 
the Government would lose no time in getting the machinery 
of coercion into motion. It was on account of these things 
that he judged the time had come when Ireland must either 
fight or acknowledge herself forever the thrall of England. 

The arrival of the girls of the Cumdnn na mBan roused 
Connolly to action. He realized that there was no time to 
be lost; that they would have to act quickly, if they were not 
to be caught in a trap. He therefore dispatched the girls 
to the homes of the other leaders of the movement with a 
message calling for an immediate conference at Liberty Hall. 
Those who were summoned to this council of war were Tom 
Clarke, P. H. Pearse, Joseph Plunkett, Sean MacDermott, 
Thomas MacDonagh, and Eamonn Ceannt. Some were in 
bed when the message came, others were about to lie down 
after coming home from a meeting of their companies. All 
started out without hesitation on receiving the message 
through the girls, and, without waiting to eat breakfast or do 
more than don their clothes, they started for Liberty Hall. 

Each of these men knew what that call meant. They 
were well aware, when they left their homes in the cool still- 
ness and dark of that Easter Sunday morning, that there was 
a likelihood they would never return. Yet when they arrived 
at Liberty Hall and greeted Comrade Connolly, they were all 
as gay and as lighthearted as though they had been asked to 
a banquet. This was particularly noticeable in the case of 
Tom Clarke, the veteran of them all, who seemed to be 
bubbling over with good humor. As the business in hand 
was calculated to take up some considerable time, it was 
decided that breakfast should be taken before anything else 
was done. The girls of the Cumann na mBan went to work 
in the little kitchen of the Hall, and soon provided a sub- 
stantial meal for all. While this was being done, Connolly 
gave orders for extra precautions to be taken. The two 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 281 

armed sentries at the door were strengthened by two more in 
the outer corridor, two in the staircase, two on the corridor 
upstairs, and two more outside the door of the room where 
the conference was to be held. While these warlike prepara- 
tions were being made, the men who had come together to 
talk over the situation were chatting and joking with one an- 
other, and saying but little regarding the business they had on 
hand. They partook of a hearty breakfast and talked for a 
few minutes afterwards before they rose to begin the conference. 

The clocks of the city were booming the hour of five, and 
the first faint streaks of Easter Sunday morning were filtering 
through the clouds that overcast the sky, when the seven 
men seated themselves at the table in the conference room 
to begin a discussion that will figure prominently in the 
annals of Ireland. Gathered together in that small room 
were seven of the bravest men in the country, men who were 
not afraid to lay down their lives for a principle. They 
were men of power and intelligence, who could be trusted to 
arrive at no erratic or rash conclusion. 

When the conference first assembled, it was presided over 
by Jim Connolly. He went into some little detail regarding 
the reasons which had prompted him to send for his comrades 
at so unusual an hour. He told them that Dublin Castle was 
even at that moment preparing to strike, and that all they 
had to decide at that time was whether they were going to 
hand in their arms and surrender all their hopes and go to 
fight for England, or whether they were going to make a 
fight for it themselves, on their own soil, against their own 
enemy, with a chance, perhaps a small one, of winning out 
in the finish. When he had thus stated the subject of their 
discussion, he moved a resolution that Tom Clarke take the 
chair. This was adopted and the veteran Nationalist, the 
coolest headed man in the city of Dublin, took over the chair- 
manship of the conference. 

The men had not been in conference for an hour before 
they had arrived at a decision on the main question. The 
whole situation was well known to all of them; it was not 



282 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

necessary to go deeply into the facts. After a brief discussion 
they decided that they had only one course open to them, 
and that was to fight. As a matter of fact, it would not 
have been possible for them to have retained their own self- 
respect had they come to any other settlement of the ques- 
tion. There remained, however, a great deal of other work 
before the conference in order that the decision to which 
they had come might be carried out. 

The question of the issuance of a Proclamation, the ap- 
pointing of a Provisional Government, and a score and one 
other things had to be decided on before any action could be 
taken. It was also necessary to do everything possible to 
try to combat the evil effects of the demobilizing order, and 
to try to get the men together again. One hour went into 
another, the city outside became alive with the thousands of 
people thronging to the churches, the long shadows of the 
morning shortened towards noon, and still the seven men 
sat behind closed doors in Liberty Hall planning an event 
that was to startle the world and contribute a glorious page 
to humanity's fight for freedom. At the same time the 
officials of the British Empire were making their arrangements 
to take the guns from the Volunteers and the Citizen Army 
and to arrest or kill their leaders. 

At noon the conference had been in session for seven hours, 
and most of the details had been settled. It had then been 
decided to take every possible step to get the men together 
again, and for this purpose messages were to be sent through- 
out the country to the various centers. The various points 
to be taken in the first rush were quickly decided on, having 
been planned months ahead. It was also decided that 
Connolly should be placed in command of the Dublin forces, 
and that the seven men at the conference should resolve them- 
selves into a Provisional Government to conduct the affairs of 
the Irish Republic until such time as an election could be held 
by the people. These points also had been settled weeks before. 

When it came to a question as to who should be appointed 
the Provisional President of the new Republic, it was at first 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 283 

the unanimous opinion that Clarke should take the position. 
Tom Clarke himself, however, declined the honor, and suc- 
ceeded in convincing his colleagues that such a selection would 
be unwise. He said that he had been too prominently 
identified with the so-called "extreme" agitation, and that 
he did not wish to be thrust forward, but merely to do his 
own work when the time came. It was he who suggested 
that Pearse, the scholar and the soldier, was the man to name, 
and who said that, if they won out, there was no one better 
fitted in his judgment than Padraic H. Pearse to lead the 
Irish Nation in the first glow of newly- won freedom. He, 
therefore, proposed that Pearse should be thus honored, and 
his colleagues bowed to his judgment. 

The Proclamation had been printed some days previously 
and all of the seven men may be said to have had an equal 
share in its composition. But Tom Clarke insisted that his 
should be the first name appended to the document, and 
he had placed his signature on a line by itself with the 
other six ranged in pairs below. The following is an exact 
copy of the wording of the document, taken from the original : 

^ohlatit na 5 (Etteann 

THE PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT 

OF THE 

IRISH REPUBLIC 
TO THE PEOPLE OF IRELAND 

Irishmen and Irishwomen: In the name of God and of the dead 
generations from whom she receives her old traditions of nationhood, 
Ireland, through us, summons her children to her flag and strikes 
for her freedom. 

Having organized and trained her manhood through her secret 
revolutionary organization, the Irish Republican Brotherhood, and 
through her open military organizations, the Irish Volunteers and 
the Irish Citizen Army, having patiently perfected her discipline, 
having resolutely waited for the right moment to reveal itself, she 
now seizes that moment, and, supported by her exiled children in 
America and her gallant allies in Europe, but relying in the first 
on her own strength, she strikes in full confidence of victory. 



284 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

We declare the right of the people of Ireland to the ownership of 
Ireland, and to the unfettered control of Irish destinies, to be sover- 
eign and indefeasible. The long usurpation of that right by a foreign 
people and government has not extinguished the right, nor can it 
ever be extinguished except by the destruction of the Irish people. 
In every generation the Irish people have asserted their right to 
national freedom and sovereignty: six times during the past three 
hundred years they have asserted it in arms. Standing on that fun- 
damental right and again asserting it in arms in the face of the 
world, we hereby proclaim the Irish Republic as a Sovereign Inde- 
pendent State, and we pledge our lives and the lives of our com- 
rades-in-arms to the cause of its freedom, of its welfare, and of its 
exaltation among the nations. 

The Irish Republic is entitled to, and hereby claims, the allegiance 
of every Irishman and Irishwoman. The Republic guarantees re- 
ligious and civil liberty, equal rights and equal opportunities to all 
its citizens, and declares its resolve to pursue the happiness and pros- 
perity of the whole nation and of all its parts, cherishing all the 
children of the nation equally, and oblivious of the differences care- 
fully fostered by an alien government, which have divided a minor- 
ity from the majority in the past. 

Until our arms have brought the opportune moment for the estab- 
lishment of a permanent National Government, representative of 
the whole people of Ireland and elected by the suffrages of all her 
men and women, the Provisional Government, hereby constituted, 
will administer the civil and military affairs of the Republic in trust 
for the people. 

We place the cause of the Irish Republic under the protection of 
the Most High God, Whose blessing we invoke upon om- arms, and 
we pray that no one who serves that cause will dishonor it by cow- 
ardice, inhumanity or rapine. In this supreme hour the Irish nation 
must, by its valor and discipline and by the readiness of its chil- 
dren to sacrifice themselves for the common good, prove itself worthy 
of the august destiny to which it is called. 

Signed on Behalf of the Provisional Government. 

Thomas J. Clarke 
Sean MacDiarmada, Thomas MacDonagh, 

P. H. Pearse, Eamonn Ceannt, 

James Connolly, Joseph Plunkett. 



POBLAC HT NA H E IREANN. 

THE PROVISIONAL GOVSRNMDNT 

OF THE 

IRISH REPUBLIC 

TO m mxii OF mium. 

IRISHMEN AND IRISHWOMEN : In the name of God and of the dead generations 
from which she receives her old tradition of nationhood, Ireland, through us, summons 
her children to her flag and strikes for her freedom. 

Having organised and trained her manhood through her secret revolutionary 
organisation, the Irish Republican Brotherhood, and through her open^ military 
organisations, the Irish Volunteers and the Irish Citizen Army, having patiently 
perfected her discipline, having resolutely waited for the right moment to reveal 
itself, she now seizes that moment, and. supported by her exiled children io America 
and by gallant allies in Europe, but relying in the first on her own strength, she 
strikes in full confidence of victory. 

We declare the right oi the people of Ireland to the ownership of Ireland, and to 
the unfettered control of Irish destinies, to be sovereign and indefeasible. The long 
usurpation of that right by a foreign people and government has not extinguished the 
right, nor can it ever be extinguished except by the destruction of the Irish people. In 
every generation the Irish people have asserted their right to national freedom and 
sovereignty : six times during the past three hundred years they have asserted it io 
arms. Standing on that fundamental right and again asserting it in arms in the face 
of the world, we hereby proclaim the Irish, Republic as a Sovereign Independent State, 
and wc pledge our lives and the lives of our comrades-in-arms to the cause of its freedom, 
of its welfare, and of its exaltation among the nations. 

The Irish Republic is entitled to. and hereby claims, the allegiance of every 
Irishman and Irishwoman. The Republic guarantees religious and civil liberty, equal 
rights and equal opportunities to all its citizens, ahd declares its resolve to pursue 
the happiness and prosperity of the whole nation and of all its parts, cherishing all 
the children of the nation equally, and oblivious of the differences carefully fostered 
by an alien government, which have divided a minority from the majority in the past. 
Until our arms have brought the opportune moment for the establishment of & 
permanent National Government, representative of the whole people of Ireland and 
elected by the suffrages of all her men and women, the Provisional Government, hereby 
constituted, will administer the civil and military affairs of the Republic in trust foi* 
the people. 

We place the cause of the Irish Republic under tha protection of the Most High God. 
Whose blessing we invoke upon our arms, and we pray that no one who serves that 
cause will dishonour it by cowardice, inhumanity, or rapine. In this supreme hour 
the Irish nation must, by its valour and discipline and by the readiness of its children 
to sacrifice themselves for the common good, prove itself worthyof the august destiny 
to which it is called. 

signed on Behalf of the Provltlonal Government. 

THOMAS J. CLARKE. 

SEAN Mac DIARMADA, THOMAS. MacDONAGH. 
P. H. PEARSE, EAMONN CEANNT. 

JAMES CONNOLLY. JOSEPH PLUNKETT: 

Reduced Facsimile of the Proclamation of the "Irish Republic 

Promulgrated on Easter Sunday. 23rd April. 1916. at Liberty Hall. Dublin. 
The ievea ii^natoriea to thia document were all executed. 



CHAPTER XLIV 

The Twenty-fourth of April 

A FEW minutes after two o'clock on Sunday afternoon, 
after a session lasting nine hours, the conference in 
Liberty Hall came to an end. The rising was then 
a matter of a few hours more of preparation. The Proclama- 
tion was ready to be issued to the people. Future generations 
of Irishmen and Irishwomen will pass on that document, will 
see in it the one and only charter of Irish liberty that will 
satisfy the aspirations of the Irish people and the Irish nation. 
Brief and to the point, it omits nothing; it states in the 
plainest terms the type of national existence to which Ireland 
aspired, and to which she must aspire until those aspirations 
are realized in their fullest fruition. It set forth that there 
could be no compromise, no bartering of any iota of that 
freedom which is the birthright of universal man. It took 
its stand on a free and a united nation, a nation of free men 
and women, with equal civil and religious rights, under a 
government elected and maintained by themselves and 
established for the betterment, happiness, and prosperity of 
all the people of every part of Ireland. No stranger or more 
striking contrast can be imagined than exists between this 
declaration and the watered-down measure of "Home Rule" 
that the Parliamentary Party was willing to accept as a full 
and final settlement of the claims of the Irish people. 

When the conference came to an end, the girls of the 
Cumann na mBan were still waiting in the corridor, wondering 
what was going to be the result of it all. Jim Connolly called 
to them when he opened the door, and told them that they 
would be required to act as special messengers. It was these 
girls who had been selected to carry the call for a remobili- 
zation to the various centers throughout the country. When 



286 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

he had handed them their orders, he produced the Procla- 
mation and, while they stood by in silence, read it to them. 
They were thus the first, outside of the seven who had signed 
it and the printers, to learn the terms of the historic document. 

It was noticeable that the men, evidently relieved after the 
long and trying strain of the protracted conference, were in 
very good humor. Although they were well aware that they 
had embarked on an enterprise which almost certainly meant 
death to most or all of them, they were happy in the con- 
sciousness that they had at last come to close quarters with 
the ancient enemy, that there was at last going to be a 
chance to avenge some of the insults that had been offered 
to their country, to their women, and to themselves. This was 
the day for which they had been hoping and longing, for 
which they had been working for years, and the realization 
that it was about to dawn brought to them a happiness that 
can be fully understood only by those who have held and 
still hold the hopes and ideals that actuated the Republican 
leaders of Dublin. 

The fact that they were about to try their strength against 
the might and fury of the greatest Empire that has ever 
tyrannized over the fortimes of mankind daunted these men 
not at all. They knew that they were going to make a 
forlorn stand against overwhelming odds, and that the lover 
and protector of the small nationalities would spare no effort 
to smash their newly-born Republic in the first hour of its 
existence. But they also knew that they and their country 
had been betrayed by Mr. Redmond and his Party, that 
conscription was about to be enforced in Ireland, and that 
an armed protest was the only thing to save the soul of the 
nation and prevent the British riding roughshod over every- 
thing they held most sacred. 

With the departure of the members of the Cumann na 
mBan on their mission to the different parts of the country 
to which they had been assigned, the Signers of the Proclama- 
tion set about making their final arrangements for the events 
of the coming day. As has already been pointed out, it had 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 287 

been the original intention to declare the Republic on Easter 
Sunday, when the arms from Germany were also to have 
been landed on the Kerry coast under the guard of the 
Republicans. All those plans had been spoiled, and it was 
now necessary to make other arrangements for the morrow. 
It was realized that there was no time to be lost, and it was 
fortunate that the plans had been laid well in advance so 
that a great deal of the work had already been accomplished. 

It was decided that the original plans should be adhered 
to, and that the first attack should be made on the General 
Post Office in O'Connell Street. Simultaneously different 
bodies of Volunteers were to make an attack on the Castle, 
the Magazine Fort in the Phoenix Park, Boland's Mills, the 
Four Courts, the railroad stations, and other points where 
the Republicans would be able to defend themselves for a 
lengthy period. It was also decided that a section of the 
Citizen Army should entrench itself in Stephen's Green. In 
fact the original plans were to be carried out with little if 
any alteration, the only difference being that the men in 
Dublin, if they were to be successful, would have to await for 
a longer period relief from the other sections of the country, 
owing to the fact that these sections would have to reassemble 
— a process which would necessarily take some time. During 
Sunday there were several other conferences held in Liberty 
Hall. The Countess Markievicz was sent for, as were others 
of the leaders, and the work of assigning these to their 
respective spheres of action occupied several hours. 

While these councils were being held, The O'Rahilly arrived 
back from Limerick. He was proceeding to his home when 
he happened to meet one of the Volunteer captains, and 
learned from him that important meetings were being held in 
Liberty Hall. Without further delay he headed his car for 
Beresford Place and reported to the leaders there. He told 
them of the mission he had undertaken to the south and of 
its result. He was amazed to learn that the men of Dublin 
had decided to declare the Republic notwithstanding the 
orders of Eoin MacNeill. 



288 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

But The O'Rahilly had never a second's hesitation when he 
learned that there was to be a rising on the morrow. He 
was never the man to shirk, and he had no sooner learned 
that the arrangements had been made and that the Republic 
was to be declared the following day at noon than he an- 
nounced his intention of being there to play his part. He 
resented at once the suggestion of the others that he need 
not stay if he believed that the time was not ripe, and 
declared that his place was with his men wherever they were 
to be assigned, and that he would fight and fall with his 
comrades. 

There was no sleep in Liberty Hall until long after midnight 
when the leaders and some of their men forced themselves to 
rest, knowing that it might be long before they would dare 
sleep again. With the exception of the armed guards outside 
and inside the Hall, there was nothing to indicate the mo- 
mentous events that were about to take place. In the other 
centers the activity was so well ordered that the spies of the 
Castle were unable to discover anything, and in the Castle, 
where conferences had also been the order of the day, security 
was felt owing to the fact that there had been no movements 
of the Volunteers reported. But it was the calm before the 
storm. 

There were two other men who must have anxiously 
awaited the coming of the morning. One of these was Eoin 
MacNeill. Where he was, was unknown to the majority of 
his followers. Whether he had realized that he had made a 
fatal error of judgment and that the Castle would certainly 
take action within the week to disarm the Volunteers, is a 
secret that he alone possessed. But certain it is that he 
disappeared out of Dublin. If he remained in the city, his 
whereabouts were unknown to his followers. Somewhere out 
there in the silence and the darkness that surrounded the city, 
Eoin MacNeill, a lonely and a broken man, was awaiting the 
coming of that dawn that would, he knew, be fraught with so 
much peril and danger to the country he loved so well. 

In the city itself waited another man with deep bitterness 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 289 

in his heart. This was Bulmer Hobson, held, since the pre- 
vious Friday, a prisoner in his own house by his own friends, 
who made no secret of the fact that they doubted his loyalty. 
Bulmer Hobson had been the secretary to the Volunteers, had 
been one of the organizers of the first meeting held in the 
Rotunda Rink, had worked day and night on Freedom and in 
other ways for the success of the movement. But there were 
times when he seemed too anxious for the Rebellion, as his 
resolution in May, 1915, calling for an immediate declaration 
of war showed, while at other times he was urging caution. 
There had been more occasions than one when he had been 
under suspicion, notably when he voted for the surrender of 
the Volunteers to Mr. Redmond. Since that time he had 
never been trusted, and had not been on the inside of the 
movement in the same manner as he had been previously. 
To prevent all possibility of mistake he was quietly placed 
under arrest in his own home on Good Friday, and was 
advised to remain there. 

Easter Monday, the twenty-fourth of April, dawned cool 
and misty with white clouds encircling the Golden Spears 
that rose to the south over the City of the Hurdles. With 
the awakening of the city crowds rapidly began to fill the 
streets. The seven o'clock Mass at the Catholic churches 
was attended by vast throngs, and the holiday crowds 
were soon very much in evidence in all parts of the capital. 
While it was common knowledge that the political condition 
of affairs was critical, there were few who had any inkling 
of what was about to transpire. 

Early that morning a message was received at Dublin 
Castle that brought joy to the hearts of the military. It 
came from Augustine Birrell, the Chief Secretary, who had 
at last been forced to give way and to agree to the proposals 
for the holding of a pogrom, in which the Volunteers and 
the Citizen Army were to be the chief victims. The message 
gave the desired permission for the disarming of the Volun- 
teers and the men of the Citizen Army in spite of the fact 
that Birrell knew, as the military authorities in Ireland knew. 



290 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

that this would certainly result in the shooting down of hun- 
dreds of men. 

It happened, however, that another order was issued in 
Dublin that morning, an order of somewhat different character. 
It read as follows: 

DUBLIN BRIGADE ORDER, 

H. Q. 

24th April, 1916. 

1. The four city battalions will parade for inspection 
and route march at 10 a.m. to-day. Commandants will ar- 
range centers. 

2. Full arms and equipment and one day's rations. 

Thomas MacDonagh, 

Commandant 

Coy. E. 3. will parade at Beresford Place at 10 a.m. 

P. H. Peabse, 
Commandant 

At the same time that this order was issued a message was 
forwarded to all of the country districts as follows: 

Dublin has acted. 

P. H. Pearse 

It was five o'clock in the morning when the Citizen Army 
paraded outside Liberty Hall. After they had formed up, 
James Connolly, the Commandant of the Dublin forces, 
made an inspection of the men. While this inspection was in 
progress, a messenger arrived on a motor cycle and handed a 
paper to the officer in charge of the battalion of police who 
were on duty in Beresford Place. This officer gave an order, 
the police were paraded and marched away. It was the first 
sign of the coming storm. The Castle authorities had decided 
to remove the police from the streets so that the ground 
would be clear for the operations of the military. After the 
parade the men of the Citizen Army also disbanded for the 
time being. 

Thereafter there was nothing in the city beyond the usual 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 291 

bustle and noise of Bank Holiday. The crowds marched up 
and down O'Connell Street, wending their way to the Park 
or to Glasnevin or other of the historic places around the city. 
The tram cars were crowded inside and out, the jarveys were 
doing a brisk business, and everything was full of animation 
and joy. 

Shortly before noon there was heard the ordered tramp of 
marching men, and a body of Volunteers swung along O'Con- 
nell Street. They advanced at a steady pace, and those who 
turned to watch them could not but notice the fine carriage 
of the men and the neatness of their equipment. The men 
comprised a company of Irish Volunteers from Kimmage, 
and they had marched into the city under secret orders. 
The crowds in the street saw no significance in their appear- 
ance, thinking that they were out on a route march, an event 
that had become commonplace in the country for months 
past. With an easy martial swing the men marched up the 
street towards the Post Office. The head of the column 
swung into Prince's Street. With dramatic suddenness a 
shot cracked out, sounding through the air from one end of 
the street to the other. 

It was the opening shot of the Rebellion. 



CHAPTER XLV 

The First Blow 

WIEN that first shot rang out from the General 
Post OflSce, someone shouted that the Irish Volun- 
teers had been fired on by the military, and in- 
dignation blazed out in a moment. But those who were 
closer to the scene knew that it was something else that had 
happened. 

When the men from Kimmage arrived at the Post Office, 
they saw standing at the corner of Prince's Street, Clarke, 
Pearse, The O'Rahilly, and Connolly. At a signal from 
Pearse, the leader gave the command for his men to turn 
alongside the Post Office. There was a halt for a few seconds, 
and then the men were led into the building by the two 
entrances leading to the counters and by the large entrance 
further down the street that led towards the stables and the 
back of the building. It was this detachment that entered 
the interior of the Post Office first. Those who entered by 
the counters requested the people there on business to get 
out. After the first gasp of surprise they lost no time in 
doing so. 

Those who entered by the rear encountered a shadow of 
opposition from two or three of the van drivers who were 
getting ready to take the one o'clock mail to the railroad 
stations. A shot fired into the air, which echoed all over 
O'Connell Street, induced them to stop their arguments. 
They stood aside while the Volunteers marched into the 
building, headed by Connolly and Pearse, with The O'Rahilly 
and Tom Clarke in close attendance. 

The officials inside the Post Office were speechless at the 
invasion, and seemed unable to comprehend what was taking 
place. But the rapidity and the precision with which the 



THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 293 

Republicans worked soon made them realize that something 
more than a holiday joke was intended. A number of the 
Volunteers were told off to smash the large windows facing 
on O'Connell Street, this being a necessary precaution owing 
to the possible later danger from flying glass should the 
windows be smashed from the outside by an attacking force. 
The postal officials meanwhile quickly obeyed the order to quit. 

The excited crowd of onlookers in O'Connell Street, still 
wondering what was happening, saw with astonishment the 
officials of the Post Office running from the building. At the 
same time several voices from within the windows warned 
the people to move away, and a second or so later the glass 
was sent crashing into the streets, propelled by the rifle butts 
of the Republicans. The Post Office had fallen to the first 
attack, and the Irish had scored the first victory. 

A number of the Republicans now appeared coming out of 
the building. They proceeded to post on the big pillars 
outside the Post Office, and in other conspicuous positions, 
the Proclamation of the Republic. It was then, and then 
only, that the people realized just what had taken place. 
As they were reading the Proclamation and passing the word 
around, another company of men, this time members of the 
Citizen Army, swung into O'Connell Street from Abbey 
Street, and marched into the Post Office. By this time the 
people knew the meaning of their action, and a great and 
rousing cheer rose from the dense crowds that thronged the 
street. Hats and caps were thrown into the air. One old 
woman knelt down in the roadway and, raising her hands to 
heaven, prayed for the success of the Rebellion, and gave 
thanks to God that she had lived to see it. Men shouted 
and cheered, and the women vied with them in their en- 
thusiasm. It seemed as though everyone had suddenly 
realized that the Rebellion was the most natural thing in the 
world, that the time had come when there would be an end 
of the political trickery that had been practiced on the people 
for years past, and that the actions of the Government had led 
inevitably to the scenes they were then witnessing. 



294 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

Before the cheering had ceased, there appeared a number of 
the Republicans on the roof of the Post Office, moving hither 
and thither in smart, orderly fashion. Then one man walked 
over to the corner, facing on Prince's and O'Connell Streets, 
where from the top of a flagpole flew the banner of England. 
In breathless silence the crowd watched this man untie the 
halyards and haul down the flag, which he let fall into the 
street below. There was another cheer at this, then silence 
again. With the greatest imperturbability the man on the 
roof attached another flag to the ropes, and for a brief second 
was seen to press its folds to his lips. He then drew it up. 
At that moment the sun broke through the clouds and flashed 
on the tricolor of Ireland, the green, white, and orange. 

The crowd below seemed awed for a moment. The solem- 
nity, the greatness of the occasion, was not lost on them. 
But then there arose another cheer, the bold, defiant shout 
of men made free. And with that cheer came the awakening 
of the land, the rousing from its long and fitful slumber of 
nigh half a century. That cheer was the cry of freedom, of 
hope and gladness, of faith and thanksgiving. The day had 
at last dawned, and Ireland was once more to make a fight 
for freedom. 

Almost at the same time there arose another cry, this time 
a shout of warning. It came from far up the street in the 
direction of the Rotunda. "The soldiers are coming," cried 
a hundred voices, and the men who were not armed and the 
women who were among the onlookers began to scatter in 
all directions. As they did so there came a swift clatter of 
horses' hoofs, and down the street appeared a column of 
Lancers, their horses at full gallop and their rifles ready for 
immediate use. A command was shouted in the Post Office, 
another outside, and immediately a line of the Republicans 
was thrown across the street to the Imperial Hotel as a first 
line of defense. A score of rifle barrels made their appearance 
at the same time over the parapet of the roof of the Post 
Office. 

When still some distance away the Lancers fired a volley, 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 295 

and then put spurs to their horses. The reply from the Irish 
came almost the same instant, and so well directed was the 
fire that five or six of the riders were seen to waver in their 
saddles and then fall headlong to the ground. Without 
waiting for the command, the Lancers turned and fled, sped 
on their way by the derisive cheers of the Irish. At full speed 
the British galloped back up O'Connell Street, leaving their 
dead and wounded behind them, and disappeared west along 
Parnell Street. They kept up their speed along Capel Street, 
and on over Grattan Bridge into the Castle. Before the day 
was over, their ride had become famous throughout the city 
as the "Leopardstown Races." 

But, while six of the Lancers lay in the street dead as a 
result of the first volley fired by the Irish, their volley also 
had not been entirely without effect. When the shots rang 
out, a man at the end of the line across the street by the 
Imperial Hotel gave a groan and rolled over on his side. 
As soon as the Lancers had ridden away in confusion, his 
comrades carried him into the Post OflSce. He was John 
Keely, a member of E Company, Fourth Battalion, Irish 
Volunteers. He was the first to fall in the Rebellion. Edu- 
cated at the Christian Brothers' Schools at Kingstown, he had 
been an enthusiastic Irish-Irelander all his life. When a 
mere schoolboy, he had assisted in the teaching of Gaelic in 
the Glasthule Branch of the Gaelic League, and later in 
Rathfarnham. He was an ardent Volunteer from the first 
inception of the movement, and took a deep interest in the 
work of the battalion to which he belonged. On the morning 
of Easter Monday he said good-bye to his wife and joined 
his company, which arrived at the Post Office along with the 
members of the Citizen Army. When he was carried to the 
Post Office, his comrades saw that he was seriously wounded. 
They decided that it would be better to have him taken to 
the hospital while there was still time, and he was promptly 
conveyed to Jervis Street Hospital. He lingered there for 
some hours, his one regret being that he had fallen so early 
in the fray, and that he had not been able to do more for his 



296 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

country. He died in the early hours of Tuesday morning, 
and was later buried in Deansgrange. 

Meantime everything was proceeding with ordered rapidity 
inside the Post Office. Every article of furniture that was 
not required for the use of the men inside was piled up against 
the windows. The long slits over the letter chutes were 
admirably adapted for rifle fire, giving the men inside a 
complete command of the street, and making a frontal at- 
tack almost impossible of success. Barricades were thrown 
up behind these to make them still more secure, and men as- 
signed to remain on guard. 

Up on the roof there were more men perfecting the defenses 
of the building. One by one they were assigned to places of 
importance, where they were able to keep watch over the 
full length of O'Connell Street and all along Henry Street 
and Mary Street. Pearse was indefatigable throughout the 
whole building. He and his colleagues went about their work 
with a smile and a hearty word for all with whom they came 
into contact, and the men themselves were laughing and jok- 
ing, and now and then whistling a tune as they obeyed their 
orders with military precision. While there could be not the 
slightest doubt as to the grim determination that animated 
each and every one of them, they were lighthearted and gay 
in the realization that they were at last to grapple with their 
hereditary foe. 

Within an hour after the defeat of the Lancers, President 
Pearse, accompanied by a number of his officers, went outside 
to the front of the Post Office, and, holding up his hand for 
silence, addressed the throngs that surged around the building. 
The crowd pressed up a little closer and quietly waited for 
him to speak. 

Then, in a few simple words, he told his hearers why they 
had decided to proclaim the Republic, the many incidents 
that had led up to that decision, and the arrangements that 
had been made by the Government that day to take the 
arms from the Volunteers and the Citizen Army and to hold 
a general pogrom in the streets of the city. He told them 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 297 

that they had been betrayed by those who had been the 
depositories of the trust of the Irish people for a generation, 
and that their only hope lay in armed resistance. When his 
speech was concluded, he made a call for volunteers to join 
the forces in the Post Office and at other points which had 
also been attacked and were in the hands of the Irish. 

His appeal was listened to with eager attention, and there 
was an immediate response to the call for volunteers. Men 
stepped from the crowd from all directions, and mustered in 
on the sidewalk on a space kept clear by the Republican 
soldiers. They then faced around to the right, and followed 
Pearse into the Post Office. Just about this time consign- 
ments of provisions were taken into the building and promptly 
stored away in the cellars. 

A little while later the rougher element that existed in the 
city began to seize what appeared to them an excellent chance 
for looting. A number of stores were smashed in, and it is 
not unworthy of record that even the crowd that took part 
in this, the one unhappy feature of the occasion, made choice 
of stores that bore English names or were known to be 
owned by the foreigners. In this they followed the example 
set by the mobs in London who raided and looted German 
stores in that city as an act of retaliation for the Zeppelin 
raids made during the war. 

Just as the looting began, a small man, dressed in an Irish 
tweed knickerbocker suit, jumped up on the step of an outside 
car at the Pillar, and began to appeal to the crowd to refrain 
from looting the stores. Up to that time he had been an in- 
terested but a passive onlooker of the taking of the Post Office, 
the encounter with the Lancers, and the other incidents which 
have been mentioned. Now he sprang into activity, and 
begged the people to behave themselves, but the rabble merely 
laughed at him and continued its work of destruction. 

The man who made the appeal was Sheehy-Skeffington, 
one of the best-known figures in Dublin — a man who was 
not in any way identified with the Rebellion or the men who 
led it. He was, in the first place, just as much opposed to 



298 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

the Germans as to the English in the world war, and was 
certainly opposed to any revolutionary movement. But, 
although a man of peace, he was also a man of remarkable 
courage, and he never hesitated for a second in doing the 
right thing as he saw it. When he perceived that he had no 
influence over the looters, he at once proceeded to the Post 
Office to acquaint President Pearse with the facts of the situ- 
ation. As a result, Pearse sent soldiers to stop the looting 
and at the same time issued a call for Volunteer Police. 

At the moment of the Proclamation of the Republic one 
of the big trolley cars that run to Howth was turning the 
comer on its outward journey and had stopped at the entrance 
to North Earl Street. Connolly had taken note of this, and 
sent a company of men, armed with bombs, to the car. The 
bombs were placed under the car and exploded, with the 
result that it was thrown off the rails and across the street, 
forming a framework for an admirable barricade in North 
Earl Street. The work of completing this barricade was 
then taken in hand, and in a remarkably short space of time 
a substantial barrier had been erected blocking this approach 
to the Post Office. 

All this time people were walking up and down O'Connell 
Street in the usual manner, but taking the keenest interest in 
the work that was being done by the Republicans. Messengers 
were now constantly arriving at the Post Office, and reports 
were being received and sent to the various other centers held 
by the Irish. Since the attack by the Lancers there had been 
no further appearance of the military in O'Connell Street, and 
the police were nowhere to be seen, having been taken off the 
city earlier in the day by the Castle authorities. 

The evening was beginning to close in on the youthful 
Republic, and there were still no signs of the enemy. All 
traffic through the street had long since been at a standstill, 
excepting for the crowds that paraded up and down. And, 
as the lengthening shadows crept across the street, a cornet 
player on the roof of the Post Office began the playing of 
"Who Fears to Speak of '98?" 



CHAPTER XLVI 
In Stephen's Green 

PRACTICALLY at the same moment that the attack 
was made on the General Post Office, similar attacks 
were delivered at other points in accordance with the 
plan of campaign. Among these was Stephen's Green, on 
the South Side, one of the most important points that the 
Irish could take, since they were thereby enabled to com- 
mand two of the most important of the southern approaches 
to the center of the city. 

The Green is a large and very beautiful park, very different 
now from what it was in the days when Thackeray referred 
to it as "a square with no more than two nursery maids to 
keep company with the statue of George II." From a scenic 
point of view, it is the finest of the smaller parks in the city. 
With many shady walks, and a large pool, it contains a sur- 
prising number of cool and picturesque retreats. There is 
also a very fine lawn, and in the southwest corner, near the 
Harcourt Street entrance, is a very fine bronze statuette of 
Mangan, one of the sweetest of the inspired singers of the 
nation. 

Facing the northwest corner, near Grafton Street and 
South King Street, is a large stone arch, modeled on the 
Arc de Triomphe in Paris, but on a much smaller scale. To 
the people of Dublin this is known as the Traitors' Gate, 
owing to the fact that it had been erected to the memory of 
the Irish soldiers who sacrificed their lives in the ranks of 
the Empire to crush the nationality out of the two South 
African Boer Republics. Along the northern side, further 
east, is the top of Dawson Street; a little further on the same 
side the top of Kildare Street; and on the corner of this street 



300 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

and facing the Green the Shelborne Hotel, the j&nest of its 
kind in the city. 

At the northeast corner is Merrion Row, and then a short 
distance down on the east side is Hume Street. Three- 
quarters way down on this side is the Royal College of Science 
and near it St. Vincent's Hospital. At the southeast corner 
are Earlsfort Terrace and Leeson Street. There is no break 
in the south side, with the exception of the entrance leading 
into the grounds of the University College. Harcourt Street 
and Cuffe Street begin near the southwest comer of the 
Green. In the center of the west side is the entrance to 
York Street, and on this corner, and facing the Green, stands 
the Royal College of Surgeons. 

It will thus be seen that there are ten streets leading 
directly to the Green, and that it was an important position 
to hold. Moreover, on the west, north, and east side of the 
Green are trolley lines leading to every section of the city. 
In addition, only a little way to the south along Harcourt 
Street, is Harcourt Street Station, which connects with the 
railroads running through Wicklow and thence throughout 
the south. On the other hand, however, it was a position 
not easy to defend against massed infantry attacks after a 
few hours of machine-gun fire. The Green was surrounded 
on all sides by a stout iron railing that rose more than six 
feet from the ground, and was now to prove a valuable ad- 
junct to the defenses of the Republicans. 

A few minutes before noon on Easter Monday morning, 
a large number of the men of the Citizen Army and the Irish 
Volunteers wended their way to the Green. Many of them 
walked along the sidewalks in twos and threes, while a com- 
pany, under the command of Michael Mallin, of the Citizen 
Army, marched from Liberty Hall, along Grafton Street. 
All the entrances to the Green were soon closed, with the 
exception of that leading to Harcourt Street. There were 
crowds of people in the Green at the time, and the Republican 
soldiers walked around and asked them to leave, saying that 
some important maneuvers were about to take place, and that 



THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 301 

they would be better outside for the time being. At the stroke 
of noon the Green had been cleared and the last gate closed. 

Commandant Mallin, who was in charge of the operations 
in the Green, was a man who had studied military science 
while a member of the Citizen Army, and had, owing to his 
keen insight and hard work, risen to the position of staff 
officer under Connolly. He was a silk weaver by trade, one 
of the foremost tradesmen of Dublin, a clever musician, and a 
total abstainer. He was trusted implicitly by the men under 
him, who knew him to be a capable and energetic leader and 
a thorough patriot. 

By the time that the gates were closed the attack was in 
progress on the Post Office in O'Connell Street, but the news 
of what was taking place there had not reached to the south 
side. Therefore, the people outside of the Green, who had 
at first believed that the Volunteers were engaged in some of 
their regular maneuvers, were rather surprised to see them 
produce spades and picks and begin to dig a double line of 
trenches around the Green a few feet mside the railings. 
They were probably under the impression that this was 
carrying maneuvring rather too far along the road to realism, 
and they were destined to be still more amazed before many 
minutes had passed. 

The gates at the Merrion Road entrance were thrown open 
and a number of the Volunteers marched out, deploying 
across the road towards the Shelborne Hotel. At that 
moment a large automobile, carrying a British officer from 
Kingstown, came along at a fast pace, but the chauffeur 
halted his car when confronted by two of the Citizen Army 
with leveled rifles. The Irishmen advanced, and ordered the 
British officer to get out of the machine, which he did with a 
great many threats and curses. He was led a prisoner into 
the Green, his revolver taken from him, and he was allowed 
to take a seat under the shadow of the statue of King 
George II in the center of the park. Two of the men 
who had halted the car jumped into it, and drove down 
Kildare Street to Liberty Hall for further supplies. 



302 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

The capture of the British oflBcer was the signal for the 
opening of operations on all sides of the Green. While some 
of the men were perfecting their defenses within, many more 
were at work on the three sides of the Green outside. Every 
automobile that came along was halted, the occupants told 
to return to their homes as best they might, and the car over- 
turned to form a section of the barricades that were being 
thrown up at every street entrance to the square. By this 
time the people in the streets were reading the Proclamations 
that had been posted up, and were aware of what was being 
done. While many of the men went over and joined with 
the Republicans, the majority of the pedestrians lost no time 
in getting outside the danger zone, evidently knowing that 
the work on hand was serious. 

Incoming and outgoing trolley cars along the west, north, 
and east sides of the Green were halted at the corners, their 
passengers made to get out, the motormen and conductors dis- 
missed from the cars, and the cars turned over on their sides 
by means of bombs to form barricades. Here, as in other 
portions of the city, the manner in which these barricades 
were constructed offered an insight into the thoroughness 
with which the men had been drilled and the study which 
their officers had given to this important subject. In every 
case the barricades were so formed as to give the riflemen 
behind them plenty of room to take a clear aim, and at the 
same time to protect them from the attackers. They were 
also sufficiently strong to withstand machine-gun bombard- 
ment and even the attacks of the one and two pounders. Car 
was packed into car in a most scientific manner, and the 
barricades were built up with every available article, not 
the least part of the construction being the sacks filled with 
the soil taken from the trenches, which proved to be practi- 
cally impervious to rifle fire at any range. 

Owing to the fact that the defenders of the Green were 
assured of having to withstand a siege, supplies of all kinds 
were taken into the park. It was while an automobile filled 
with provisions was on its way through Grafton Street to the 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 303 

Green that the first clash in this district took place. This was 
shortly before one o'clock. The automobile was piled high 
with boxes that had been loaded at Liberty Hall, and was 
traveling none too fast in consequence. Four English soldiers 
were running out of Nassau Street just as the car passed, and, 
acting on the impulse of the moment, all of them stopped, 
leveled their rifles, and sent a volley of shots after the ma- 
chine. The car was then only a few yards away, at the cor^ 
ner of Wicklow Street, and the two men who were guarding 
the car immediately let fly with their rifles in return. The 
British, who had emptied their magazines, were making a 
bolt to get into the shelter afforded by Suffolk Street, but they 
were not quick enough. The marksmen on the car dropped 
the leader and severely wounded another, who also fell in his 
tracks. The other two succeeded in making their escape, and 
did not wait to rescue their wounded comrade or to take 
away the body of the dead man. This incident occurred 
while the street was still crowded with people, all of whom 
ran, terrified, to the nearest shelter. 

Some little time later another small affray took place at 
the corner of York Street and Aungier Street. Preparations 
were being made to defend the Royal College of Surgeons, 
of which more will be said later, and a company of the Volun- 
teers were erecting a barricade at this point. While the Vol- 
unteers were at work, a Rathfarnham trolley car came along 
at a speed considerably greater than was usual. The speed 
of the car, which caused it to sway perilously as it sped 
along the tracks, attracted the attention of the Volunteers, 
and one, more keen-eyed than the rest, noticed khaki imi- 
forms through the windows. He shouted to his comrades 
that the car was filled with English soldiers, which soon 
proved to be the fact, and as it passed the corner it was 
greeted with a salute of rifle bullets which crashed through 
the windows. Before the shots were fired, however, the 
motorman, who had seen the Volunteers taking aim, 
shouted a warning, and the Enghsh soldiers dropped on the 
floor of the car. Whether the volley had any effect, be- 



304 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

yond the shattering of the glass, was not known to the 
RepubHcans. 

It was just after this incident that the Countess Markie- 
vicz, with her boys of the Fianna na EireanUy arrived, com- 
ing to the Green through WiUiam Street and South King 
Street. The Countess had already been the heroine of a 
daring exploit earlier in the day, which will be dealt with in 
another chapter, and she had now come to take up her quar- 
ters in the Royal College of Surgeons, to which she and the 
Fianna had been assigned. The fame of her exploit at the 
Castle had already reached the ears of the Volunteers, and 
she and her company were greeted with cheers as they 
marched along the west side of the Green, their green, white, 
and orange banner flying above them. 

The defense of York Street was now intrusted to the Coun- 
tess, and she and her Fianna lost no time in putting the 
College in fit state to withstand a siege. The houses on 
either side of Mercer Street and York Street were also occu- 
pied by this time, and this entrance to the Green was thus 
well protected, more particularly owing to the barricade which 
had been erected at the end of York Street and Aungier Street, 
and formed the first line of defense in this area. 

Similar precautions were being taken at the other points 
around the Green. A barricade was thrown up in Dawson 
Street close to the Mansion House, but that building, owing 
to the fact that it stood too far back to be of advantage, was 
occupied. The barricade was placed just above it, and was 
also a first line defense. A similar defense was erected in 
Kildare Street, a little below the line of the Shelborne Hotel. 

Another very important position that may be included in 
this area of operations was Jacob's Biscuit Factory, situated 
at the corner of Bishop's Street and Whitefriars Street. This 
corner faced directly on Aungier Street, where the latter ran 
between York Street and Cuffe Street. The position was not 
an easy one to hold, owing to the fact that it was open to 
attack on three sides. On the other hand the nature of the 
goods in the factory rendered it practically self-supporting 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 305 

so far as food was concerned, and the hundreds of bags of 
flour made magnificent barricades for all of the windows. 
Major John McBride was in command in the factory, which 
was included in the area under the command of Command- 
ant MacDonagh. The factory was the furthest western point 
held on the south side of the city, with the exception of the 
South Dublin Union, which was situated beyond the City 
Basin Dock. 

Only a short distance south along Harcourt Street is Har- 
court Street Station, and this was also seized by the Repub- 
licans early on Monday, as part of the Stephen's Green area. 
The importance of this position can scarcely be over-esti- 
mated. The station itself was a position of considerable 
strength, but weakened owing to the command which artil- 
lery had over it on two sides. Owing to the other positions 
held to the north of the station, there was a clear line of re- 
treat should this become necessary. 

Further to the south, and a little to the west, was the Por- 
tobello Bridge over the Grand Canal. Lying a little distance 
from the bridge and in a southwesterly direction were the 
Portobello Barracks, occupied by several companies of the 
military. The holding of the canal bridge at this point pre- 
vented the enemy crossing the canal. A little further west 
was the Clanbrassil Street Bridge. Here another section of 
the Volunteers was on guard, thus pinning the military to 
the south side of the canal and cutting them off from the rest 
of Dublin, unless at the cost of capturing positions that were 
well held even by a mere handful of men. These two posi- 
tions completed the southern ring of defenses in this area, 
and both were under the command of Commandant Mallin. 

By three o'clock in the afternoon all of the positions men- 
tioned were held by the Republicans, whose plans had, up to 
this point, worked with perfect smoothness. 



CHAPTER XLVII 

The Attack on the Castle 

ONE of the most prominent buildings on the south 
side of Dublin was Dublin Castle, situated at the 
western end of Dame Street on the eminence known 
as Cork Hill. At one time a little stream, known as the 
River Poddle, flowed down the hill at this point, and it was 
across this that King John of England had erected a four- 
towered castle as a protection for the people of the Pale, 
and as a stronghold for his Government in Ireland. While 
but one of these towers remained and a number of more 
modern buildings had been added, the system that had op- 
pressed Ireland in the days of King John had altered little 
in duplicity and tyranny with the passing of the centuries. 

The Castle was always well garrisoned. In the lower quad- 
rangle were situated the barracks of the Dublin Metropolitan 
Police, and there were, in addition, several companies of 
British soldiers quartered in the various buildings. On the 
morning of Easter Monday a large force was on duty, wait- 
ing for the arrival of other soldiers from the Curragh to begin 
the programme planned by representatives of the Government. 

Alongside the Castle, but standing out from it and facing 
on Parliament Street, was the City Hall, erected originally as 
the Royal Exchange in 1769, but adapted to municipal pur- 
poses in 1862. Across the street, on the corner of Parliament 
Street and Dame Street were the offices of The Daily Express 
and The Evening Mail, two English Tory newspapers owned 
and controlled by Lord Iveagh. It is not without interest to 
recall that, on the Friday before the Rising, The Daily Ex- 
press, in the course of a bitter editorial article, called on the 
Government to accomplish the "speedy and happy dispatch 
of the National leaders.'* 



THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 307 

A little before noon on Easter Monday morning the Coun- 
tess Markievicz marched with her boys of the Fianna na 
Eireann up to the outer gate of the Castle, facing Parliament 
Street. The sentry on duty, a man named Brien, noticed the 
parade and seemed interested. 

When the Countess, leading the Fianna, led the way di- 
rectly to the gateway of the Castle, the sentry, suddenly 
assuming a militant attitude, brought his rifle across his hip 
and faced the invaders. The Countess told him to get on one 
side, that war had been declared, and that he would be shot 
if he resisted. At this he began to use foul language, and put 
his weapon to the breast of the Countess. Without a second's 
hesitation, or moving an inch from her perilous position, the 
Countess fired her revolver point blank into the body of the 
sentry. He fell where he stood, killed instantly. 

With a cheer, the others followed their intrepid leader into 
the quadrangle. The sound of the shot brought out a score 
or so of the military, who, seeing that an attack was in prog- 
ress, retreated into the barracks * of the police and to the 
armory. The barracks was carried on the run by the Fianna, 
before those inside had time to close the doors, and a number 
of prisoners made, those inside preferring to surrender rather 
than fight. Immediately after a fusillade of shots burst from 
the armory, and several of the Fianna, who were still in the 
open, dropped to the ground. A rapid exchange of shots then 
took place between the Fianna in the barracks and the military 
in the armory. This lasted for some minutes, when it was de- 
cided to storm the armory and gain possession of it, thus making 
the capture of the entire Castle a comparatively easy matter. 

A slight lull in the firing from the armory gave the desired 
chance. One of the Fianna made a dash across the yard and, 
putting his revolver against the lock of the armory door, 
blew it to pieces. This was the signal for a general attack, 
and, with a cheer, the boys, led by the Countess in person, 
charged for the broken door. A scattering volley met the 
charge, but the shooting was bad, and resulted only in two 
of the attackers sustaining slight wounds. 



308 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

But, at the moment that the charge was made, there was 
a clatter of horses' hoofs in the quadrangle, and the Lancers 
who had run away from O'Connell Street appeared, covered 
with foam, dashing through the gate of the Castle. This 
sudden attack in the rear discomfited the rebels, and the ap- 
pearance of the rebels came as a shock to the Lancers. That 
they would again have turned tail and fled is very possible, 
but their speed carried them on and, as they dashed towards 
the Fianna, the latter fell to either side and allowed the 
horsemen to go past. The Countess realized that her little 
force was not able to cope with the situation, and, not know- 
ing that other reinforcements might also be coming up behind, 
she ordered the Fianna to fall back towards the gateway. 
Keeping up a running fire, they made their retreat towards 
the entrance. 

While the editor of The Mail, standing near his window, 
was working himself into a perspiration over these events, 
most of which he could only guess at, he was further amazed 
to see another force of Irishmen advancing in the direction of 
the Castle. Hearing the firing, they came along at a run, and 
arrived on the scene just as the Countess succeeded in making 
her retreat. Seeing what was happening, Sean Connolly, who 
led the newcomers, commanded his men to charge into the 
Castle. This again turned the tide of war, and the Lancers 
turned at the arrival of the rebel reinforcements and dashed 
out of the Castle through the Ship Street entrance. There 
they vanish from the history of the Rebellion. 

The quadrangle was strewn with the bodies of the dead 
and the wounded, most of these being Britishers, including 
some of the Lancers. The barracks was again occupied, and 
a fire kept up on the armory that made the appearance at the 
windows of any of the British dangerous. At the same time 
a number of the Irish had established themselves in the upper 
quadrangle, so that, with the exception of the armory, the 
Castle was virtually in the possession of the rebels. 

Seeing that this was the case, Sean Connolly returned to 
the Parliament Street entrance of the castle and led his men 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 309 

into the City Hall. As this building was vacant at the time, 
the occupation of it was merely a matter of walking in and 
taking possession. While this was in progress, a number of 
the Republicans began the occupation of the other buildings 
which were to constitute this line of the defenses. The Coun- 
tess meanwhile marched with her Fianna in the direction of 
Stephen's Green, and took up her quarters at the Royal 
College of Surgeons. 

The Republicans took over and occupied the offices of The 
Evening Mail, and the Empire Theater, situated at the corner 
of Dame Street and Theater Street. They took up positions 
on the balcony of the Theater, facing Dame Street, and also 
in the rear, where they were able to guard against a surprise 
from Essex Street. It was while they were making these 
arrangements that a disaster took place at the City Hall. 

After entering the City Hall the Volunteers proceeded to 
the roof, from which point they could bring a further line 
of fire on the remaining defenders of the Castle, and com- 
mand Dame Street and Lord Edward Street. One of the first 
to appear on the roof was the leader, Sean Connolly. He 
carried in his arms the green, white, and orange tricolor of 
the Republic, and went directly to the flagstaff, where the 
municipal flag was flying. This he pulled down and ran up 
the Republican flag in its stead. As he was tying the last 
knot, a sudden volley rang out from the upper quadrangle 
of the Castle, where some of the defenders were still holding 
their own, and Sean was seen to fall flat on his face where he 
had been standing. He had been killed almost instantly. 

Sean Connolly was a Captain in the Citizen Army, a close 
friend of the Countess Markievicz, a splendid elocutionist, and 
closely connected with the Abbey Theater Company and the 
National Players. He met the death that he himself would 
have chosen, falling under the flag of his united Ireland, 
attired in the uniform of one of her national soldiers. 

His place was immediately taken by John O'Reilly, who 
was second in command under Connolly, Standing six feet 
and six inches in his socks, O'Reilly was a man of command- 



310 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

ing presence and a clever leader. He had the body of his 
captain taken down into the Council Chamber of the City- 
Hall, and then set to work to carry out the plans that had 
been made for the defense of the building. The fall of the 
leader in no way interfered with the execution of the work 
that was to be done. It merely made his men the more de- 
termined that he would not die unavenged. 

Meanwhile, the Republicans had been busy erecting other 
barricades along the tops of the various small streets that led 
from the direction of the river into Dame Street. Essex 
Quay and Wellington Quay were occupied, and a barricade 
thrown across the foot of Parliament Street so as to command 
Grattan Bridge. A number of buildings in Fleet Street were 
also occupied, but these were held only temporarily, owing to 
the fact that the defenses in the near-by sections were so 
perfect, and men were wanted elsewhere. 

The attack made on the old Houses of Parliament was not 
vigorously pressed, probably because the Republicans did not 
want to expose that historic edifice to the risk of a bombard- 
ment. The Republicans did, however, drive the EngHsh sen- 
tries on duty there into the building, and, as they did so, 
they were greeted by a volley of shots from the gateway of 
Trinity College, which faces directly up Dame Street and 
commands the entrances to the Bank (as the Parliament 
Houses had become). 

Early in the course of the war. Trinity College, a bulwark 
of the English in Ireland, had established an OflBcers' Training 
Corps, and it was this force that had fired on the rebels. They 
had discovered what was being done in the other parts of the 
city, and had opened their gates to a number of scared British 
soldiers who were afraid to venture to return to their respec- 
tive barracks or proceed to the Castle. These men assisted 
the Training Corps in the defense of the Bank and of the 
College. Their volley had the effect of driving the rebels up 
Dame Street, it being realized that any attempt to carry the 
College by a frontal attack of infantry on the huge iron gates 
would be little short of suicide. Furthermore, they were ac- 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 311 

complishing all that they desired by keeping the Officers* 
Training Corps confined to the College along with the British 
soldiers who had taken refuge there. 

This was the situation of affairs on the south side of the 
city, so far as the City Hall area was concerned, at four 
o'clock on Monday afternoon. The Castle was practically in 
the hands of the Irish, who also held a large area adjoining 
it and running down to the quays. 



CHAPTER XLVIII 

At Boland's Mills 

THE chain of defenses in Ringsend, or the southeastern 
district of the city, consisted of six main points, under 
the command of Commandant Edward de Valera, a 
man whose courage and determination earned for him one of 
the highest places in the ranks of the men who led the Repub- 
lican Army during Easter Week. De Valera was born in 
New York City, his mother being Irish and his father a 
Spaniard. He went to Ireland to complete his education, and 
had a brilliant career, graduating from Blackrock College in 
1904. He later became Professor of Science at Maynooth and 
of Higher Mathematics at Carysgort Normal College in 
Dublin. 

Taking a keen interest in literature and art, he soon be- 
came friendly with Thomas MacDonagh and Padraic Pearse. 
A fluent speaker of Gaelic, he was a thorough patriot, and his 
ardent love for Ireland was manifested on more than one 
occasion in the perilous and dangerous period prior to the 
insurrection. Although an American citizen, he was trans- 
parently sincere and disinterested in his love for his mother's 
native land, and, when he joined the Volunteers, he threw 
himself into the work with so much fervor that he soon rose 
to a position of responsibility. A tall, dark man, with many 
traits of his father in his appearance and character, he was 
very muscular and seemingly did not know the meaning of 
fear. 

The district to which De Valera had been assigned by Presi- 
dent Pearse was one of the most important in the area of 
operations. His main duty was to keep the soldiers in the 
Beggarsbush Barracks so well occupied that they would be 
unable to do more than defend themselves. The position 



THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 313 

approached that of the Castle area at Westland Row Station, 
which is situated only a block away from the far end of the 
grounds of Trinity College. This station was the terminal 
of the Dublin, Wicklow, and Wexford Railway. The entire 
line of the railroad from the station south to the point where 
it crossed Lansdowne Road was also in De Valera's hands, 
and was patrolled constantly by his men during the week of 
the Rebellion. To appreciate the importance of this fact, 
it must be mentioned that from the corner of South Lots 
Road the railroad ran almost alongside and within a stone's 
throw of the Beggarsbush Barracks, Lansdowne Road being 
some distance in the rear of the buildings. The possessions 
of the railroad, therefore, besides commanding that district 
between Great Brunswick Street and Merrion Square, allowed 
the Volunteers to dominate one side and the rear of the bar- 
racks. It likewise rendered the Grand Canal Docks at this 
point, the Ringsend Gasworks, and the power house prac- 
tically untenable for the enemy, thus depriving them of three 
important positions. 

Great Brunswick Street crosses the Grand Canal Basin over 
a bridge. South of Great Brunswick street is Grand Canal 
Street. To the west is Clarence Street and on the east is the 
Grand Canal Quay, facing on the water. Diagonally through 
this block runs the railroad line, and in the portion between 
the line and Great Brunswick Street, facing on the canal 
basin, were situated Boland's Mills. Built of stone and sur- 
rounded by high walls, and containing a plentiful supply of 
flour, useful both for barricades and for food, a better im-' 
pro vised fort would have been very difficult to find. Touch- 
ing, as it did, on the railroad, and with one side also protected 
by the canal basin, it was splendidly situated. It was here 
that De Valera established his headquarters and personally 
directed the operations. The railroad line, with its stone wall 
protection, practically formed one long line of trenches, pro- 
tecting his northern flank from the Mills to Westland Row 
Station. 

The next point of his defenses approached Stephen's Green 



314 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

on the west. This was at the corner of Lower Mount Street 
and Warrington Place, where a detachment of his men occu- 
pied Clanwilliam House, a strong building that had been 
erected when houses were made only of stone. From here 
the rebels dominated Percy Place and Herbert Place. A 
block further down and almost alongside the barracks the 
rebels held the corner of Northumberland Road and Hadding- 
ton Road, and, still another block further down and in the 
rear of the Barracks, they held the junction of Northumber- 
land Road, Pembroke Road, and Lansdowne Road. They 
were thus able to command every approach to the Barracks. 
Still further to the south they also held the corner of Pem- 
broke Road and Shelborne Road alongside the River Dodder. 

It will thus be seen that the entire area was well defended, 
and it is a matter for surprise when it is known that De Valera 
had but little more than one hundred men for the entire dis- 
trict. The manner in which he placed them, and the advan- 
tage they took of every opportunity afforded for protecting 
themselves, were the secret of his success. De Valera proved 
himseK to be a commander of whom any army and any coun- 
try might be proud. 

Leaving his quarters shortly before noon on Easter Mon- 
day, De Valera and his men marched direct to Westland Row 
Station. Here all was bustle and confusion, owing to the 
influx of the holiday crowds. A train load of visitors from 
England had just arrived on the boat train, and were being 
driven away in outside cars and taxis to various parts of the 
city. Some little interest was manifested when the Volun- 
teers marched up the carriage way to the upper level of the 
station, the English visitors being quite interested at seeing 
the much-discussed Irish Volunteers. When these same Vol- 
unteers, however, proceeded to clear the station of not only 
the officials but the remaining visitors also, their interest be- 
came much keener and far less impersonal. To all protests 
and inquiries the Volunteers replied that a Republic had been 
proclaimed, and that the station was being held, and would 
probably be attacked by the British. The obvious determina- 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 315 

tion of the Volunteers impressed itself on the oflficials and 
visitors alike, and they lost little time in getting away from 
the station. 

With the station in his possession, De Valera sent forward 
a detachment of men along the railroad line, with directions 
to await him at Boland's Mills. He then proceeded to the 
Mills with the rest of his men by road. As soon as they had 
begun the work of establishing themselves there, where they 
met with no opposition, owing to the fact that the mills were 
closed on the holiday, he personally took another detachment 
to the house at the corner of Lower Mount Street, which was 
also placed in a state of defense. One by one the other points 
were similarly occupied by the Republicans. 

x\t this time there were a number of English soldiers on the 
streets, and, while these were watching with amazement the 
occupation of Clanwilliam House, De Valera personally told 
one of his men to warn them that a state of war existed and 
that actual hostilities would be begun within the hour. He 
took this action owing to his not wishing to take these men 
prisoners, and also because he had no intention of opening 
fire until he knew that the enemy were aware of his intentions. 

Shortly before one o'clock the Republican flag was hoisted 
over Boland's Mills. It had been flying but a few seconds 
when a solitary shot rang out from the barracks, quickly 
followed by a number of others. Regarding this as an act of 
war, the patrols on the railroad replied, and some of the 
fiercest fighting of the Rebellion began. 

This exchange of courtesies lasted only a little while. The 
military did not seem to be in any hurry to rout the rebels 
out of their strongholds, and it was not until late in the even- 
ing that the first sortie from the beleaguered barracks was 
made. The sentries on the railroad flashed a signal to Bo- 
land's Mills that the enemy was preparing to issue in strength 
from the entrance leading into Northumberland Road, be- 
tween Haddington Road and Pembroke Road. This warning 
was, in turn, flashed to the men in the threatened districts, 
with the result that when the military appeared on the run 



316 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

they were met by a terrible cross fire from both comers, shots 
also being fired from the railroad. A dozen or more of the 
soliders dropped, and the rest, evidently unaware till then 
that the rebels were so well posted, withdrew for the time 
being. 

A few minutes later a second volley from the railroad 
warned the Irish that another attack was in progress. The 
military this time had come out into Shelborne Road and, in 
spite of the fire which greeted them from the railroad, suc- 
ceeded in getting into Lansdowne Road. From here they 
charged on the position at Pembroke Road and Northumber- 
land Road, but the volleys that met them again drove them 
back. Determined, however, to gain a position outside of the 
barracks, they again attacked, this time making their way 
along the Shelborne Road to the Dodder, where they attacked 
the section at that point, while their comrades also kept up 
a fire on the position at the Pembroke Road. 

Throwing themselves flat on the streets, the military began 
a general engagement against these two points. Little by 
little they were able to creep closer to the Clyde Road posi- 
tion, and after the engagement had been in progress for over 
half an hour, the rebels at this point were forced to retire, 
owing to the difficulty of obtaining supplies of ammunition 
from the men at the other corner, who were also engaged with 
the military. As the Clyde Road position was merely an 
advanced line, its loss was not of importance, and the men 
retired up Elgin Road and then through Raglan Road into 
Pembroke Road, where they were able to join hands with 
their comrades. 

The British, however, were apparently of the opinion that 
they had gained an important victory, and they thereupon 
dashed forward to continue their success. But they were 
met with so withering a fire from the men in the reinforced 
position at Pembroke and Northumberland Roads that they 
fled back after suffering heavy losses. So severe was the 
rebuff that the Irish might possibly have been able to retake 
their advanced position, but they were content to hold the 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 317 

enemy in check from their stronger position. A half-hearted 
attack was made by the British a little later, but this was 
also met with determined opposition, and the engagement 
became a contest between snipers. Thus the night passed in 
this sector of the operations. 

Away up beyond the Castle and the Liberties and close to 
Kilmainham, was situated the South Dublin Union — an ex- 
tensive group of buildings, bounded on the south by the 
Grand Canal, on the west by Row Road, on the north by 
James Street, and on the east by the City Basin connecting 
with the canal. On the northeast, touching that side of the 
City Basin, were some of the buildings of Guinness 's Brewery. 
It was this position that the Volunteers, under the command 
of Eamonn Ceannt, occupied shortly after noon on Monday. 
It was the most westerly position occupied by the RepubUcan 
Army in Dublin, and, unlike the other positions that have 
been described, was practically isolated, not being supported 
by a chain of other positions in the vicinity. On this account 
the position was decidedly weaker than any of the others, and 
was also rendered less easy to hold owing to the fact that 
there were a large number of aged and more or less infirm 
inmates in the buildings, which prevented the rebels taking 
possession of the latter, as they had no desire to render them 
liable to the fire of the enemy. As will later be seen, that 
enemy was actuated by no such scruples. 

It was at this point that one of the earliest engagements 
took place between the British and the Irish. According to 
instructions received the previous day, the third Royal Irish 
Regiment was on its way east to report for duty at the Castle, 
when information was received by a motorcyclist messenger 
that the city was in the hands of the Irish, and that they 
were wanted immediately. At that time they were going into 
the city along Kilmainham Road into James Street, and the 
officers in charge immediately ordered the men to increase their 
pf-;e. It may be well to mention, in passing, that this regi- 
ment, like many others with similar titles, was composed mainly 
of Britishers, the only thing Irish about it being the name. 



318 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

Eamonn Ceannt, in anticipation of the arrival of troops 
from Kilmainham, had thrown a patrol across Row Road, 
and it was not long before his scouts reported that a very 
large body of the British was advancing at a rapid pace. 
The rebels deployed on each side of the road and awaited 
the arrival of the enemy. But the enemy, in this case, was 
a trifle more cautious than the soldiers in Beggarsbush Bar- 
racks, and soon an advance guard engagement was being 
fought between the opposing forces. 

An entire regiment of the enemy being engaged, it was 
easily possible for the British to hold the road and at the 
same time to send forces into Row Lane, a little to the north 
of that point and with an exit below the point defended by 
the Irish. This attempt to take them in the flank was vigor- 
ously resisted by the rebels, who held their positions for over 
an hou^ before being driven to fall back by sheer weight of 
numbers. They then retreated in good order on their base, 
the Union buildings, and were followed step by step by the 
British. Once close to their base, however, they were able 
to offer a more stubborn resistance and eventually halted the 
advance. In the fighting there had been severe losses on the 
side of the British, which was but to be expected owing to 
the fact that the Volunteers were constantly on the defensive 
and better able to take advantage of all the cover that of- 
fered. They were able also to hold their own during the rest 
of the day, and, owing to the gravity of the situation, the 
officer commanding the regiment decided that he would not 
be able to advance until he had subdued the rebels in this 
quarter. So that Commandant Ceannt succeeded in at least 
holding for the time being one regiment from the attack on 
the central positions held by the other leaders. 

The foregoing chapters will give the reader some idea of 
the manner in which the Volunteers established themselves 
in the southern part of the city. Even the brief details given 
will have convinced the reader that the plans were remarkably 
thorough. By Easter Monday evening they had taken pos- 
session of a line of defenses which stretched from the canal 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 319 

to the Castle, and from the Castle to Ringsend. In addition 
they held many other important positions, practically all of 
which have been mentioned. 

It is now time to turn to the northern side and see what 
was taking place there. 



CHAPTER XLIX 

The Post Office Area 

SOME details have been already given regarding the posi- 
tion occupied by the Republicans in the General Post 
Office in O'Connell Street. The Post Office was made 
the headquarters of the Irish. Here the President and the 
Commandant of the Dublin troops were quartered along with 
a number of their staff officers. Here they received their re- 
ports from all the other sections of the city that were in the 
hands of the insurgents, and it was but natural that this 
point should be the center of a chain of other positions so 
that it might be the more efficiently guarded. 

O'Connell Street, called by the English Sackville Street, 
has long been reputed one of the finest streets in Europe. 
It is remarkable for its breadth, being more than twice as 
broad as Fifth Avenue, New York City. It is, however, 
only about twenty city blocks in length, running from the 
River Liffey to the Rotunda, which stands at the corner of 
Parnell Street (formerly Great Britain Street) and Cavendish 
Row. Parnell Street runs across the top of O'Connell Street 
east and west, forming the boundary between O'Connell 
Street and Cavendish Row. 

On the south side of the Post Office is Prince's Street, a 
small narrow thoroughfare that extends only a few yards 
before degenerating into a mere alley. The Metropole Hotel 
stood at the corner facing O'Connell Street, and just below 
it was the office of The Freeman's Journal, Redmond's official 
newspaper. At the next corner, a little further up, is Middle 
Abbey Street, the journalistic Mecca of the city. Abbey 
Street extends west from O'Connell Street, and on the other 
side, extending east, is Lower Abbey Street. A block further 
south the street comes to an end at O'Connell Bridge, formerly 



THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 321 

called Carlisle Bridge. The statue of O'Connell, at the end 
of the street and facing south over the bridge, is one of the 
finest pieces of sculpture in the city. Extending west from 
the bridge is Bachelor's Walk, with which the reader is 
already acquainted. Above Bachelor's Walk, running along- 
side the river, is Ormond Quay, and then King's Inn Quay, 
on which face the Four Courts. East from the Bridge is 
Eden Quay, running to Beresford Place; then Custom House 
Quay, on which faces the Custom House, and below this the 
North Wall, running the rest of the way to the sea. Below 
O'Connell Bridge, the river is spanned by the Butt Bridge, 
running into Beresford Place, and the huge and unsightly 
railroad loop bridge carrying the line from Tara Street Station, 
which is just below Westland Row, north over the river to 
Amiens Street Station, where connection is made with the 
Great Northern Railway, for the north of Ireland. Above 
O'Connell Bridge may be seen the Metal Bridge, connecting 
with Liffey Street, which runs into Middle Abbey Street; 
Grattan Bridge, connecting Capel Street and Parliament 
Street; Richmond Bridge, just east of the Four Courts; 
Whitworth Bridge, just west of the Four Courts; Queen's 
Bridge, Barrack Bridge, and King's Bridge, which is close to 
the Phoenix Park and just below the Kingsbridge Railway 
Station. 

The Post Office Area extended from the river to Parnell 
Street in the north, to Beresford Place in the east, and to 
Capel Street in the west, where it adjoined the Four Courts 
area. Liberty Hall, being in Beresford Place, opposite the 
Custom House, was in this area, and Amiens Street Station 
was also included. This sector comprised the very heart of 
the city. Beresford Place was one of the largest open spaces, 
not a park, to be found in the city. Liberty Hall, the head- 
quarters of the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union, 
was situated in an old building just around the corner from 
Eden Quay. Several other buildings intervened between 
Liberty Hall and Lower Abbey Street. 

The Volunteers took possession, on Monday morning, of 



322 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

the building over Hopkins' jewelry store at the corner of 
O'Connell Street and Eden Quay. At the same time they 
occupied Kelly's Fort, on the opposite corner of O'Connell 
Street and Bachelor's Walk. This latter place was a three- 
storied building given over to an extensive trade in rifles, 
ammunition, pistols, and similar goods, for sporting and 
military use. The two positions enabled the Republicans to 
command the approaches to O'Connell Bridge from the 
south. 

Some sixty yards below the corner of O'Connell Street in 
Middle Abbey Street were the offices of The Evening Tele- 
graph, the afternoon edition of The Freeman s Journal. These 
offices extended right back to Prince's Street, where the front 
door was labeled with the name of The Freeman^s Journal, 
At almost the same time when the Republicans took posses- 
sion of the Post Office, another section of Volunteers marched 
into the office of The Freeman^s Journal. As they entered 
the dingy archway, and passed on into the dark and dirty 
interior, the occupants ran out of the Telegraph offices in 
Middle Abbey Street. 

The retreat of the occupants of the Freeman office w^as 
quickly followed by the Volunteers taking complete possession 
of the building right through to Middle Abbey Street. While 
that portion of the building was of little use excepting to 
prevent a possible charge on the entrances to the Post Office, 
the Telegraph office in Middle Abbey Street was certainly 
valuable, and the long narrow building presented an excellent 
line of retreat should such be required. It also made it 
possible for messengers to take dispatches into the Post 
Office from Middle Abbey Street. 

The building at the corner of Middle Abbey Street and 
O'Connell Street, together with Eason's Library, was also 
occupied for the purpose of defense against an attack from 
the bridge. These points, together with the points occupied 
on the opposite corner, where Lower Abbey Street ran into 
O'Connell Street, were the second line of defense to the Post 
Office. Chief among the points occupied at this corner was 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 323 

the Hibernian Bank, a strong stone building that offered 
excellent facilities for defense. 

We have already mentioned the erection of the barricade 
at the corner of North Earl Street, just north of the Post 
Office. Another of these obstacles was built in Talbot 
Street, the continuation of North Earl Street, halfway down 
to Amiens Street Station. A barricade was also erected at 
the junction of Henry Street and Denmark Street. In line 
with this was another barricade at the corner of Middle 
Abbey Street and Liffey Street. Another first line defense 
was set up at the corner of Mary Street and Jervis Street. 
A guard was also placed on the Metal Bridge to prevent an 
attack from the south side. Communication was thus made 
with the rebels in the Four Courts area. 

The entire length of O'Connell Street was patroled by the 
Irish, from O'Connell Bridge to the Parnell Monument, but, 
owing to the small number of men available, it was not 
considered practicable to hold Parnell Street, as had been 
the original intention. There was an excellent reason why 
the Irish did not take possession of the Rotunda. Next to 
the building was the Rotunda Hospital, and the Irish, with 
ready sympathy, did not wish to endanger the lives of the 
patients. 

Amiens Street Station, situated at the far end of Talbot 
Street, was the terminal of the Great Northern Railroad. 
This point was taken by the insurgents at an early hour on 
Monday. The station is built on an eminence, and is ap- 
proached by an inclined carriage way on the south, and by 
steep stone stairways on the west facing Talbot Street. The 
station is large and well built and is protected by a stone wall 
on the east. Its possession placed in the hands of the Irish 
the terminal for all of the trains from Belfast and the north. 

On taking possession of the station and ejecting the officials, 
the Republicans sent out patrols along the railroad line, 
which for some distance is built on a viaduct. The loop line 
from Tara Street Station connects with the main line just 
below Seville Place, and the connecting line of the Midland 



3£4 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

and Great Western Railway cuts a short distance higher up. 
Had there been sufficient men to hold these positions and at 
the same time allow the moving of men from one point to 
another, the loop line from Amiens Street to Tara Street 
would have formed an excellent means of communication 
with the Boland's Mills area. Owing, however, to the fact 
that Tara Street Station could not be properly occupied, this 
means of communication was rendered precarious. In this 
instance, as in a thousand others, the fatal countermanding 
order of Eoin MacNeill crippled the plan of campaign. 

Towards evening, owing to the vigilance of the sentries on 
duty, it was observed that a detachment of cavalry was 
attempting to make its way from the North Wall towards 
the northern end of the city. It was noticed that they were 
conveying ammunition, and a message was immediately sent 
to the Post Office to this effect. Connolly dispatched a 
company of men to intercept the British, and they succeeded 
in locating them and holding them up in Charles Street, near 
the Four Courts. In spite of the fact that the British were 
superior in numbers, they preferred to park their ammunition 
and allow themselves to be surrounded. A battle ensued, 
without either side making a charge. It was discovered that 
the British consisted of 150 men of the Sixth Reserve Cavalry 
Regiment, in charge of four officers. The Republicans con- 
sisted of fewer then fifty men, but they occupied every possible 
point about the British, and their shooting was so excellent 
that the enemy did not dare to try conclusions, but retreated, 
leaving their dead and ammunition behind them. The 
shooting of the Irish continued deadly, and the ranks of the 
British were considerably thinned as the retreat progressed. 
Owing to their great numerical inferiority, the Irish were 
unable to follow up their advantage fully. They had the 
satisfaction of knowing, however, that, early in the engage- 
ment, the officer commanding the convoy was shot dead. 
Owing to the better cover they had selected, the Irish loss 
was out of all proportion to that of the enemy. One of the 
first to fall in the ranks of the Irish was Patrick Kavanagh, 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 325 

a Dublin man and a crack shot. He was sighting his rifle 
when a bullet struck him right between the eyes, killing him 
instantly. Others who fell during the opening of this engage- 
ment were James McGuire, of Terenure, William MacDonald, 
of Clontarf , and William MacGuinness, of Cork, who had been 
for some years in Dublin and was one of the most ardent 
members of the Volunteers. 

During Monday night some shots were exchanged between 
the men on guard at O'Connell Bridge and some of the 
British from Trinity College. These were merely sniping 
encounters, however, and the night in this section passed in 
comparative quiet. Shortly after midnight word was received 
at Liberty Hall that a large number of the British were 
advancing along the North Wall towards the Custom House. 
Preparations were immediately made to receive them, and a 
patrol sent out to hold them in check. 



CHAPTER L 

The Four Courts 

THERE is just one more area of the defenses of 
Dublin that remains to be considered. This is the 
line that stretched from the Four Courts along Con- 
stitution Hill to the Broadstone Railway Station, and thence 
along Broadstone Road and the bank of the Royal Canal to 
the North Circular Road. This line may be taken to repre- 
sent fairly accurately the northwestern line of trenches set 
up by the Republicans. 

The Four Courts — comprising the four courts of Exchequer, 
Common Pleas, Chancery, and King's Bench — are a square 
block of buildings, in classic style, lying half a mile up the 
line of quays along the Liffey from Bachelor's Walk. The 
building dates from 1796, the site being that on which a 
thirteenth-century convent had once stood. The building is 
of hard stone, and presented an admirable position both for 
defense and offense. 

On each side of the Four Courts the river is spanned by a 
bridge — Richmond Bridge on the east and Whitworth 
Bridge on the west. Whitworth Bridge leads directly to 
Merchants' Quay on the south side, and thence, by Wine- 
tavern Street and Lord Edward Street, to the Castle. Just 
east of the Four Courts is Charles Street, where the convoy 
from the North Wall was held up and captured, as already 
mentioned. On the other side was Church Street, while to 
the rear of the building extend a number of small streets 
running north. 

The area in the rear of the Four Courts is one of the most 
closely populated in the city. Its inhabitants comprise those 
who had the most reasons to be in favor of the Republicans. 
They were Irish men and women compelled to live in poverty. 



THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 327 

and oftentimes in squalor, that a benevolent Government 
might be the better able to show a profit on its business with 
Ireland during each fiscal year. Thanks to the noble work 
of the Franciscan friars, who labor in this district, great 
improvements have been brought about among the poor of 
this locality, but with improvement and enlightenment had 
also come a realization of the truth, and the seeds of nation- 
alism had taken deep root there and flourished. 

Running almost directly north from the back of the Four 
Courts were Church Street and Beresford Street, and a little 
to the east of these were Anne Street, Halston Street, and 
Green Street. All of these five streets ran into King Street. 
From King Street, almost in a line with the Four Courts, 
was Coleraine Street. This latter formed the western bound- 
ary of the Linen Hall Barracks. Back of the barracks were 
the gardens of Queen's Inns, to the west of which, as a 
continuation of Coleraine Street, was Constitution Hill. A 
little further north Constitution Hill branches in two, one 
end running northeast up to Dominick Street and the 
Viaduct, direct to the Broadstone Station; the other, branch- 
ing northwest, runs under the Viaduct to Phibsboro Road, 
which leads to Glasnevin. A flight of steps enables pedes- 
trians to get from this section of the street up to the Station. 

It is of importance to note that the Viaduct over the road 
at this point gave any soldiers who occupied it a complete 
command of Constitution Hill as far as its junction with 
Coleraine Street. The Viaduct was constructed of white 
hard stone, and a parapet, which runs the entire lengt,h of 
the side facing Constitution Hill, makes it possible for a line 
of riflemen to hold the position against almost any odds. 
A similar force posted at the top of Dominick Street also 
made it possible to hold this approach to the Station, as well 
as the carriage way from Mountjoy Street. At the western 
end of the Viaduct, which was only the length of a city 
block, was the Station, also made of stone and capable of 
being defended with sufficient men for any length of time. 

Close to the Dominick Street entrance to the Viaduct, and 



328 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

on the northern side, is a low wall, and at the western end of 
this a narrow entrance. This leads to the bank of the Royal 
Canal. At this end of the canal is the City Basin, one of 
the terminals of the canal. From this the canal runs in a 
direct line for a distance of about half a mile to Blaquir 
Bridge, where the canal is spanned by the North Circular 
Road. Blaquir Bridge is the boundary line between Phibs- 
boro and the city proper. Halfway down the canal a small 
span bridge crosses from Geraldine Street, but, with this 
exception, there is no approach to the western side of the 
canal between Broadstone Station and Blaquir Bridge. 

From the Four Courts to Blaquir Bridge, if we take into 
account the windings of the streets, is nearly two miles. It 
was this line that the Republicans set out to defend. As 
has been shown, this area included the Linen Hall Barracks, 
which the rebels surrounded, and the line acted as a barrier 
between the center of the city and the Royal Barracks, the 
Constabulary Barracks, and the Marlborough Barracks. It 
prevented the British from these three centers concentrating 
on the Post Office and O'Connell Street. The holding of 
the Broadstone Station also prevented the enemy moving 
troops into the city from the Galway route. The line of 
defense was crossed by innumerable small and narrow streets, 
which made the movement of cavalry, artillery, or large bodies 
of troops practically impossible. The only routes by which 
these could be transferred from one side of the line to the 
other were along the North Circular Road from the Phoenix 
Park, along the line of quays, and possibly along North King 
Street and King Street into Bolton and Capel Streets. In 
order to guard against these routes being used by the enemy, 
barricades were erected at important points, the chief of 
these being at Blaquir Bridge, across the North Circular 
Road, just above Dunphy's (or Doyle's) Corner. 

This, then, constituted the western line of the defenses, which 
was under the command of Edward Daly. At the time that 
these positions were being occupied, a company of the Republi- 
cans was marching along the northern line of quays in the di- 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 

rection of Phoenix Park. Their intention was to deliver an at- 
tack on the Magazine Fort, situated in the Park on a small hill 
overlooking the Liffey on the south and the city on the east. 

The fort was a comparatively modern structure, built of 
stone and in such a position that it menaced every side of the 
city. For many years prior to the rising the men of the 
I. R. B. had made various plans for the leveling of this 
monument of British authority in the land. In addition to 
the fact that it was so placed as to command every building 
in the city, it was also the resort of a number of undesirable 
individuals, and constituted a moral plague spot during the 
summer months. It was conceded that the only way in 
which the fort could be captured was by a surprise while the 
gates were open or by a prolonged siege, and it was scarcely 
possible for the Irish at that time to secure sufficient heavy 
artillery to batter its walls to pieces. 

At the time that the Volunteers, accompanied by some 
members of the Citizen Army, marched against the fort, few 
of those who saw them passing up the quays realized their 
errand. At this time the attack was proceeding on the Post 
Office, but the news had not yet traveled as far as the Park. 
The people who saw the Volunteers swinging into the park, 
therefore, took little or no notice of them. 

The men advanced into the broad carriage way, leaving 
the People's Gardens on their right. After a few more 
minutes' march, a detachment of the men branched off near 
the Gough Monument, one of the ugliest in the city, while 
the other continued along the carriage way. The smaller 
detachment continued to bear to the left until it came to the 
narrow path that led to the south side of the fort. The other 
branched off to the left also and approached the fort across 
the fields. The foot of the hill on the top of which rested 
the fort was masked in low foliage which rose on either side 
of the path. Here the men waited until they were certain 
that their comrades who had taken the other route had had 
time to get into position on the other side. Then occurred 
one of the most daring episodes of the Rebellion. 



330 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

Three of the Volunteers marched up the hill towards the 
door of the fort, in as unconcerned a manner as visitors fresh 
from the country. Their comrades remained under cover, 
watching every movement in the vicinity of the fort. The 
three arrived at the gateway and, finding it open, marched 
through. The sentry inside eyed them with more or less 
indifference. The "visitors" asked if the commanding officer 
was inside, and, receiving the reply that he was not, was 
asked who was taking his place. The name of an officer was 
mentioned. On being asked where this officer could be found, 
the sentry inquired their business, and was too surprised for a 
moment to frame a reply when he was told by the three men 
that they had come to demand the surrender of the fort in 
the name of the Irish Republic. When at last he grasped 
the meaning of the words, he laughed and asked what the 
joke was. 

"It is not a joke," was the serious reply. "The Volunteers 
have established a Republic in the city; every point of 
importance, including the Castle, is in our hands, and we 
want the surrender of this fort in order to avoid a great deal 
of unnecessary bloodshed." 

Probably thinking that he was dealing with three harmless 
lunatics or practical jokers, the sentry told them that they 
were not doing any surrendering that day, as it was a holiday. 
But when a revolver was brought into unpleasant proximity 
with his breast, he decided that the joke was a serious one. 
He was told that his life would be quite safe provided that 
he made no attempt to resist, and his rifle was taken from 
him while he was still undecided whether to submit or to 
die the death of a hero. Meanwhile one of the three waved 
a handkerchief as a signal to his comrades outside. The 
entire attacking force advanced up the slopes to the fort at a 
run. 

It was at this time that someone inside the fort noticed 
that something peculiar was taking place at the outer gate. 
He sauntered over, and was immediately covered with half 
a dozen rifles. Placing guards over the two prisoners, the 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 331 

Volunteers rushed into the fort, and within a couple of 
minutes it was in their hands. The attack was a complete 
surprise, and the soldiers in the fort were disarmed and 
imprisoned in one of their own dormitories before they had 
had time to assimilate the idea that there was really a revolu- 
tion in being. 

It had been the intention of the Volunteers to blow up the 
fort, but the dynamite was not available, so they allowed the 
soldiers to remain in their dormitory while they destroyed 
the locks of every piece of artillery in the place. They then 
collected all the small arms and ammunition they were able 
to find, and, having parceled this among their number, 
prepared to leave the fort. It was of no importance now 
that the artillery it contained had been rendered useless, 
and they had secured their end also in capturing the stores 
with which the fort was stocked. 

So quietly had the whole incident been carried out that 
scores of people in the immediate vicinity at the time knew 
nothing of what had taken place, until they saw the Volun- 
teers marching out of the fort, laden with the spoils of victory. 
Every man was carrying at least a couple of rifles, and 
several bandoliers of cartridges, and, as they swung out 
through the gateway and down the slopes to the paths, 
the significance of what was taking place began to dawn on 
the observers. It was only then that someone noticed that the 
Union Jack was no longer flying from the flagpole. The 
marching Volunteers were crowded on all sides as they 
marched back to the carriage way, and to all who questioned 
them they replied that Ireland was in rebellion and that they 
had captured the Magazine Fort and taken away all the 
rifles and ammunition it contained. 

The victorious little company was unmolested in its march 
down the quays. Here the Four Courts were being occupied, 
and people were standing in dense crowds outside on the 
quay, watching the men inside putting the place into condi- 
tion to withstand attack. All the windows were smashed, 
and thousands of bulky volumes of the law were placed 



332 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

behind the windows to form barricades. Sentries had already 
been posted on the roof, and the occupation of the entire line 
all the way to Balquir Bridge was in active progress. 

It was at this moment that the men who had taken the 
Magazine Fort arrived. The crowd immediately made a 
path for them, and they marched through the main entrance 
into the building to the accompaniment of rousing cheers 
from their comrades. The rifles and ammunition they had 
captured were sorely needed, and arrangements were at once 
made for the transfer of some of it to the men who were 
forming the line to Phibsboro. At this time the sound of 
shooting across the river told the watchers that the Rebellion 
had broken out there also, and that the attack on the Castle 
was in progress. 

The foregoing chapters will give the reader some idea of 
the manner in which the Irish took possession of the points 
of vantage throughout the city on the first day of the rising. 
The two outstanding facts of the events of the first day are 
that the Irish had laid their plans with superb skill, and that 
the British, who had other plans made, were so confused at 
the manner in which they had been forestalled that they 
were unable to prevent the plans of the rebels being carried 
out practically in their entirety. In a line stretching from 
Ringsend to Portobello Bridge and thence to the South 
Dublin Union, from Liberty Hall and Amiens Street to 
Fairview, from the Post Office to the Four Courts, and from 
the Four Courts up to Phibsboro, the Republicans held a 
ring around the city. 

Above all else the Irish had demonstrated that the British 
positions were not impregnable; that the English soldiery 
were not so terrible as they had tried to make the people 
believe, and that, given approximately equal numbers and a 
fair field, their term of oppression in Ireland would come to 
an end. 



CHAPTER LI 

The British Scared 

IT has already been pointed out that the British Govern- 
ment had, through its representatives in Ireland, ar- 
ranged to hold a pogrom on Easter Monday in Dublin. 
At the same time, it was not inclined to take any chances. 
Its idea was to flood the city with armed soldiers, and, know- 
ing that the Irish were certain to resist, to shoot them down 
in cold blood and thus put an end at once to the Volunteers 
and the Citizen Army. 

Should there be anyone who doubts that the above state- 
ments are correct, the following extract from the report of 
the Hardinge Commission will convince him. After referring 
to the conferences which were held at Dublin Castle on Easter 
Saturday and Easter Sunday, and which have already been 
detailed, the report continues: 

It was eventually decided that the proper course was to arrest all 
the leaders of the movement, there being by this time clear evidence 
of their *' hostile association," but it was agreed that, before this 
could be safely done, military preparations sufficient to overawe 
armed opposition should be secured. 

Early in the morning of the 24th April the Chief Secretary's con- 
currence with the proposed arrest and internment in England of 
the hostile leaders was asked for and obtained, but before any fur- 
ther effective steps could be taken the insurrection had broken out, 
and by noon many portions of the City of Dublin had been simul- 
taneously occupied by rebellious armed forces. 

There have been found many people, including some 
patriotic Irishmen, who have in all sincerity expressed the 
opinion that the Rebellion was rashly planned and ill-timed. 
They hold that it would have been better to have waited for 
a more opportune time, when the men could have been again 



334 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

mobilized and would have been better armed. They pointed 
out that the total number of men fighting under the Repub- 
lican colors did not far exceed 1200, and that they had no 
chance against the superior and better armed forces of the 
British. Of these 1200 not more than one-half were effec- 
tively armed, and a certain proportion carried practically no 
weapons that were effective against modern rifles. These 
things are undoubtedly true, but these well-meaning critics 
apparently do not give proper consideration to the circum- 
stances which compelled the men to fight. Had they made 
any attempt to postpone the rising, they would have been 
shot down in the streets or in their own houses, whereas, by 
rising when they did, they were at least able to put up some 
resistance and to demonstrate that the soul of Ireland still 
lived and throbbed as it did in every previous generation. 
Only the fact that they had positive information of the plot 
that the military had hatched forced them to strike when 
they did. That this information was absolutely correct, is 
shown beyond a doubt by the extract from the finding of 
the British Commission just quoted. 

As a simple matter of fact, the rebels rose not a moment 
too soon. The police had already been taken from the 
streets in order that they would not interfere with the opera- 
tions of the military. Close on 2500 British troops were at 
that time quartered in the city, and the military authorities 
were but awaiting the arrival of other troops from the Curragh, 
which had already been sent for, to put their plans into actual 
operation. They had planned to strike late in the evening, 
when they could take at least some of the men in their beds, 
and, having planted the troops in every quarter of the city, 
to inaugurate a reign of terror by shooting every man who 
refused to go along quietly and submit to arrest and dis- 
armament. 

As showing that these preparations had been made and 
that troops had been ordered from the Curragh — a fact which 
the British apologists are most anxious to deny — there are 
also two little admissions, simple in themselves but signifi- 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 335 

cant in conjunction with the other facts which have been 
mentioned. These facts show, in very clear fashion, that the 
British were in the act of making their final preparations 
when the Rebellion broke out and forestalled them in the 
nick of time. The first of these admissions is contained in 
the official report forwarded to Lord Kitchener by Field- 
Marshall Sir John French, the Commander in Chief of the 
Home Forces, to which position he had been assigned after his 
removal from his post in France. French wrote as follows: 

It wiU be observed that the Rebellion broke out in Dublin at 
12:15 P.M. on April 24th, and that by 5:20 p.m. on the same after- 
noon a considerable force from the Curragh had arrived in Dublin 
to reinforce the garrison, and other troops were on their way from 
Athlone, Belfast, and Templemore. The celerity with which these 
reinforcements became available says much for the arrangements which 
had been made to meet such a contingency. 

The other admission is that made by Sir John Maxwell, 
the man who took charge of the operations for the British 
on April 28th, in the course of a report in which he says that 
an inlying picket of 400 was being held in readiness at the 
very moment that the Rebellion broke out. This is con- 
tained in his report on the operations made to Sir John 
French. 

At the time of the Rebellion the headquarters of the mili- 
tary were located in the Royal Hospital, which is situated at 
Kilmainham on the south side of the river, some little dis- 
tance north and west of the South Dublin Union. General 
Field, who was in command of the British troops in Ireland, 
was on short leave in England at the time, it being considered 
better that an inferior officer should have control of the po- 
grom operations in view of a possible later "inquiry.'* In 
addition. Colonel Kennard, the Dublin Garrison commander, 
was for the same reason also out of the city. A number of 
other officers had gone for an hour or two to the races at 
Leopardstown in order to prepare themselves for the work 
of the night. 



336 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

At fifteen minutes after noon on Easter Monday morning 
a telephone message was received at the Royal Hospital from 
the Dublin Metropolitan Police stating that Dublin Castle 
had been attacked by "armed Sinn Feiners." The news was 
received with incredulity, but it was immediately confirmed 
by another telephone message, this time from the Dublin 
Garrison Adjutant. This officer reported that the attack on 
the Castle was in full swing, and that he had received in- 
formation to the effect that the rebels had also attacked 
the Post Office in "Sackville" Street. He said that, in the 
absence of his chief, he had taken upon himself the respon- 
sibility of ordering all the available troops at Portobello, 
Richmond, and the Royal Barracks to proceed to the relief 
of the Castle, and had also ordered the Sixth Reserve Cavalry 
Regiment to proceed to the Post Office. 

It has already been stated that the number of Republicans 
probably did not exceed 1200. At the moment that the 
Rebellion broke out, there were more than double that num- 
ber of British soldiers in the city itself, every one of whom 
was efficiently armed and was a trained soldier. It was 
stated by men who were in a good position to judge that 
there were close on 4000 British troops in the city at the 
time. Whether this was the case or not, is not of material 
importance. The British official reports admit to over 2400, 
or in the ratio of two to one against the Irish. These troops 
were, according to these official reports, the Sixth Reserve 
Cavalry Regiment (35 officers and 851 other ranks); the 
Third Royal Irish Regiment (18 officers and 385 other ranks); 
the Tenth Royal Dublin Fusiliers (37 officers and 430 other 
ranks), and the Third Royal Irish Rifles (21 officers and 
650 other ranks). There were thus in Dublin 111 officers 
and 2316 other ranks, or a grand total of 2427. Against 
these were pitted 1200 Irish Volunteers, not eighty per cent 
of whom were armed. 

Fifteen minutes after the receipt of the first notification of 
the Rebellion, a telephone message was dispatched to the 
General Officer Commanding at the Curragh ordering him 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 337 

to mobilize the mobile column, which consisted of 1600 
oflScers and men, mider the command of Colonel Portal. The 
official dispatches, which have already been mentioned, add 
the significant statement that these troops had already been 
"arranged for to meet any emergency." As a matter of 
fact, this column had been ordered mobilized the previous 
day in order to take part in the pogrom, and was to have 
arrived in Dublin on the evening train at Kingsbridge. 

Following the sending of this message, the telephone serv- 
ice became practically useless, owing to the fact that the 
rebels had cut the wires at various points, as well as taking 
over the control of the switchboards at the General Post 
Office. This rather disarranged the plans of the British, and 
a condition approaching panic became noticeable. They had 
no exact knowledge of the force arrayed against them, be- 
yond the fact that it was greatly inferior to their own. 
Through indirect sources they learned that the Republicans 
had seized the Four Courts and Jacob's Biscuit Factory. 
Close on the heels of this information came the report that 
the cavalry had suffered a severe repulse in O'Connell Street 
and that the Castle had been taken. While they were still 
trying to grasp the meaning of these ominous tidings, a 
breathless messsenger arrived with the added news that the 
Magazine Fort in the Phoenix Park had been captured, and 
that Stephen's Green was said to have been occupied by the 
Volunteers. 

For over half an hour the military were in hopeless con- 
fusion. Each new report added a still more sinister aspect 
to the situation, and fears were expressed that the Republi- 
cans meant to carry out the very programme that had been 
arranged by the British — in other words that it was the in- 
tention of the Sinn Feiners to massacre all the British soldiers, 
with the single difference that the massacre was to be con- 
ducted in broad daylight instead of in the hours of the night. 

One of the younger officers offered a possible solution of the 
problem. It was, he pointed out, essential that they should 
be able to get a message to London without a minute's un- 



338 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

necessary loss of time, telling Kitchener of their peril. The 
best manner, he said, in which this could be done was to 
send a message to the Naval Station at Kingstown, where 
it could be relayed by wireless to London. He offered to 
take this message himself, and his offer was immediately ac- 
cepted. It is worthy of note that his action was so far 
ignored later that his name was not even mentioned in dis- 
patches. 

Doffing his military uniform and attired in his civilian 
clothes, the young officer secured a bicycle and, with the 
written message in his hat, started on his lengthy journey. 
He rode past the South Dublin Union, where he saw the 
Volunteers under Eamonn Ceannt making preparations for 
defense, but they, thinking he was a civilian, allowed him 
to pass unchallenged. He crossed the canal at Harcourt 
Bridge, and then, making a detour, passed the Crumlin 
quarry and thence out to Rathmines, from which place he 
proceeded to Kingstown. Here he delivered his message at 
the Naval Station, whence it was transmitted to the War 
Office at London. The news that a Republic had been pro- 
claimed in Dublin thus reached the ears of Lord Kitchener, 
who lost no time in making preparations to meet the situa- 
tion. 

It is a coincidence worthy of note that General Friend was 
in London at the time that the news arrived, and that he 
was actually on his way to the War Office at the time when 
the message was being received from Kingstown. It does 
not require any effort of the imagination to picture the 
dismay in London at the receipt of the news. While the 
members of the Government had long since known that every- 
thing in Ireland was not just as they represented it to be to 
the rest of the world, it is very probable that they believed 
they were perfectly safe, and that the Irish people would 
never attempt to strike a blow against the sacred Empire. 
So when the aerial waves flashed the intelligence that the 
old fight was on again, the British, not knowing with what 
they had to contend, and feeling that the very foundations 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 

of the British Empire were tottering, decided to take no 
chances, and, having some little idea of the fighting quali- 
ties of the Irish, made arrangements for the sending of an 
army to Ireland. 

The Fifty-ninth Division was at that time encamped at 
St. Albans, and orders were issued by General French for its 
immediate transfer to Ireland. French took this action on 
his own responsibility. "I am aware," he says in an official 
report, *'that in doing this I was acting beyond the power 
delegated to me, but I considered the situation to be so criti- 
cal that it was necessary to act at once without reference to 
the Army Council." Orders were at the same time issued 
to the Admiralty, calling for warships and transports, and 
these were promptly forthcoming. Judging by the feverish 
haste with which the various departments of the Government 
acted, it is probable that the officials received a greater shock 
than at any time since the Spanish Armada. 

As has been stated, the first news of the Rebellion was re- 
ceived by the British in Dublin at fifteen minutes after noon. 
At 4.45 the same afternoon, the first troop train from the 
Curragh arrived at Kingsbridge Station, and at 5.20 p.m. 
the whole cavalry column, 1600 strong, had arrived, under 
the command of Colonel Portal. At the same time orders 
were issued for the following troops to proceed to Dublin: 

A battery of four eighteen-pounders R. F. A., from the 
Reserve Artillery Brigade at Athlone; 

The Fourth Dublin Fusiliers from Templemore; 

A composite battalion from Belfast; 

An additional 1000 men from the Curragh. 

Meantime Colonel Kennard was placed in command of the 
Dublin troops, and the defense of the docks at the North 
Wall was undertaken by Mayor H. F. Somerville, command- 
ing a detachment from the School of Musketry, Dollymount, 
reinforced by 660 officers and men of the Ninth Reserve 
Cavalry Regiment. 



CHAPTER LII 

Getting to Grips 

THE story of the First Irish RepubHc may be divided 
into three parts for the purpose of easier comprehen- 
sion. In the first, the particulars of which have already 
been detailed, fall the initial operations of the Republicans 
in seizing the City of Dublin and the first steps taken by 
the British to counteract these operations. In the second 
will be considered the actual fighting that took place in 
the city up to that time when it became obvious to the 
leaders of the Insurrection that they had failed so far as 
a military victory over the enemy was concerned. The 
final phase will deal with the last scenes of the Rebellion 
and the incidents following the surrender of the insurgents. 
It will be necessary now to consider the second phase of 
the story. 

The reader has already been given a fair idea of the extent 
to which the rebels had entrenched themselves in the city by 
midnight on April 24. At that time the Republic had been 
in existence for a period of twelve hours, and, with the ex- 
ception of some sharp fighting at the Castle and one or two 
other points, there had been nothing important to note, with 
the exception of the excellent manner in which the rebels 
had carried out their plans. 

It was a curious situation that existed in O'Connell Street. 
At Nelson's Pillar a strong barricade was thrown up, and 
the rebels were in possession of many of the houses and build- 
ings at each end of the street. An occasional shot was fired, 
as a sniper caught sight of a British uniform, or a British 
soldier discovered the whereabouts of an Irish marksman. 
Incidentally, it may be mentioned that one of the most strik- 
ing features of the whole rising was the superior shooting of 



THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 341 

the Irish. There were innumerable incidents where a lone 
Irish sniper was able to hold at bay several enemy soldiers, 
simply on account of the superior use which the Irishman 
made of his ammunition. Ammunition was scarce in the 
ranks of the Republicans; every shot was of value, and but 
few of them were wasted. 

Up to midnight crowds paraded up and down O'Connell 
Street, taking the keenest interest in what was being done 
by the Republicans. Now and then a shot whistled along 
the street, but this did not deter the people. At the same 
time Republican sentries paraded up and down the street, 
advising the people to go home so as to be out of danger. In 
addition to the sentries, there were a number of Republican 
police, who had been appointed by President Pearse at the 
request of Sheehy-Skeffington, and who were instrumental 
in preventing a renewal of the looting that had broken out 
earlier in the day. 

There was some excitement when it became known that 
an attack was in progress at the Custom House, where the 
men of the Citizen Army were engaged with the Ninth Re- 
serve Cavalry Regiment. Here the fight was of short dura- 
tion. It was not the intention of Commander Connolly to 
try to continue to hold the Custom House in view of the 
fact that his men were already dangerously attenuated by 
being distributed over so large a territory. At the same time, 
he ordered that the British should not be allowed to get into 
the building without j5^ying a price for it. 

It therefore happened that Beresford Square once more be- 
came the scene of a battle between the representatives of an 
alien government and the people of the country. The British 
advanced at a run along the quays, taking the fullest ad- 
vantage of every point that afforded cover and protected by 
the uprights on the canal bridge in front of the Custom 
House itself. A sharp volley greeted the appearance of the 
British, who immediately halted at the bridge head and 
threw themselves flat on the ground. A lively engagement 
ensued, but this action was merely a mask for the operations 



342 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

of another section of the EngUsh force which gained an en- 
trance to the Custom House on the eastern side. These 
soon made their presence felt by directing a withering fire 
on the Irish, and the latter withdrew into Liberty Hall, 
turning Beresford Place into a No Man's Land, which it was 
death to enter. 

By their success in this action, the British gained an im- 
portant position. Built of solid stone, the Custom House 
formed an invaluable position to the attackers, facing, as it 
did, directly on Liberty Hall. It is improbable that it was 
at any time the intention of the rebels to attempt to hold 
Liberty Hall strongly, owing to the fact that it was not a 
place easy to defend, both on account of its exposed posi- 
tion and its weak condition. Nevertheless, the capture of 
the Custom House was the first act in the operations against 
the Post Office in O'Connell Street, and its importance is not 
to be minimized. In his official report, already referred 
to, General Maxwell says: 

The occupation of the Customs House, which dominated Liberty 
Hall, was carried out at midnight, and was of great assistance in 
later operations against Liberty Hall. 

Continuing his report. General Maxwell wrote: 

The situation at midnight was that we held the Magazine, Phoenix 
Park, the Castle and the Ship Street entrance to the Castle, the 
Royal Hospital, all barracks, the Kingsbridge, Amiens Street and 
North Wall railway stations, the Dublin Telephone exchange in 
Crown Alley, the Electric Power Station at Pigeon House Fort, 
Trinity College, Mountjoy Prison and Kingstown Harbor. The 
Sinn Feiners held Sackville (O'Connell) Street, and blocks of build- 
ings on each side of this, including Liberty Hall, with their head- 
quarters at the General Post Office, the Four Courts, Jacob's 
Biscuit Factory, the South Dublin Union, St. Stephen's Green, all 
the approaches to the Castle except the Ship Street entrance, and 
many houses all over the city, especially about Ballsbridge and 
Beggar's Bush. 

It may not be unimportant to point out that the General 
made a mistake in saying that the British held Dublin Castle. 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 343 

It is true that a number of the British were holding out in 
the upper courtyard, but the Irish held the rest of the place, 
including, as he says, all the approaches to it, with the ex- 
ception of Ship Street. It is also worthy of mention that no 
attempt was made by the rebels to take possession of Mount- 
joy Prison, Kingstown Harbor, the Power House or the tele- 
phone exchange. The names of these places, particularly 
Kingstown Harbor, which lay several miles outside the city 
and would have required an army and a fleet to hold, were 
evidently thrown into the report to balance the number of 
places held by the Irish. While mentioning three of the 
railroad stations held by the British, he forgets to mention 
one of the most important, the Broadstone, which was still 
in possession of the Irish. Regarding the Castle, the vera- 
cious British commander evidently forgot that he was lying, 
for he admitted, a few paragraphs later, that they were plan- 
ning to relieve the position which he said he held. 
Continuing, he says: 

On April 25th Brigadier-General W. H. M. Lowe, commanding 
the Reserve Cavalry Brigade at the Curragh, arrived at Kingsbridge 
Station at 3.45 a.m. with the leading troops from the twenty-fifth 
(Irish) Reserve Infantry Brigade, and assumed command of the 
forces in the Dublin area, which were roughly 2300 men of the 
Dublin garrison, the Curragh Mobile Column of 1500 dismounted 
cavalrymen, and 840 men of the twenty-fifth Irish Reserve Infantry 
Brigade. 

In order to relieve and get communication with the Castle, Colonel 
Portal, commanding the Curragh Mobile Column, was ordered to 
establish a line of posts from Kingsbridge Station to Trinity College 
via the Castle. This was completed by 12 noon, 25th April, with 
very little loss. It divided the rebel forces into two, gave a safe 
Une of advance for troops extending operations to the north and 
south, and permitted communication by dispatch rider with some 
of the commands. The only means of communication previous to 
this had been by telephone, which was unquestionably being tapped. 

The Dublin University O. T. C. (Officers' Training Corps), under 
Captain E. H. Alton, and subsequently Major G. A. Harris, held the 
College buildings until the troops arrived. The holding of these 



344 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

buildings separated the rebel center round the General Post Office 
from that round St. Stephen's Green; it established a valuable base 
for the collection of reinforcements as they arrived, and prevented 
the rebels from entering the Bank of Ireland, which is directly oppo- 
site to and commanded by the college buildings. 

During the day the twenty-fourth Royal Dublin Fusiliers from 
Templemore, a composite Ulster battahon from Belfast, and a bat- 
tery of four 18-pounder guns from the Reserve Artillery Brigade at 
Athlone arrived, and this allowed a cordon to be established round 
the northern part of the city from Parkgate along the North Cir- 
cular Road to North Wall. Broadstone Railway Station was cleared of 
rebels, and a barricade near Phibsboro was destroyed by artillery fire. 

As a heavy fire was being kept up on the Castle from the rebels 
located in the Corporation Buildings, The Daily Express officers, and 
several houses opposite the City Hall, it was decided to attack these 
buildings. 

The assault on The Daily Express offices was successfully carried 
out under very heavy fire by a detachment of the fifth Royal Dublin 
Fusiliers under Second Lieutenant F. O'Neill. 

The main forces of the rebels now having been located in and 
around Sackville Street, the Four Courts and adjoining buildings, it 
was decided to try to enclose that area north of the Liffey by a 
cordon of troops so as to locahze, as far as possible, the efforts of 
the rebels. 

The thoughtful reader will not fail to note one Important 
fact in connection with this portion of the report made by 
the British commander. Unlike many others, he, at least, 
was not inclined to minimize the seriousness of the task 
which confronted the British troops. In spite of the fact 
that he was faced by a force of men inadequately armed, 
without machine guns or artillery, and outnumbered two or 
three to one by the professional soldiers of England, he de- 
cided it was essential that more and still more troops should 
be brought into the city, until the Irish Republicans were 
overwhelmed by a force of over fifty to one, backed by ma- 
chine and artillery guns and a naval gunboat. 

Before dealing with the actual operations of Tuesday, let 
us turn for a moment to another document of historical 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 345 

value. This was the statement issued by the Provisional 
Government in the first and only issue of Irish War News, 
the newspaper published by the rebels, and dated Dublin, 
Tuesday, April 25, 1916. On the fourth and last page of 
this little paper is the following: 

STOP PRESS! 



THE IRISH REPUBLIC 



Irish War News is published to-day because a momentous 
thing has happened. The Irish Republic has been proclaimed in 
Dublin, and a Provisional Government has been appointed to admin- 
ister its affairs. The following have been named as the Provisional 
Government : — 

Thomas J. Clarke, Thomas MacDonagh, 

Sean MacDiarmada, Eamonn Ceannt, 

P. H. Pearse, Joseph Plunkett, 

James Connolly. 

The Irish Republic was proclaimed by a poster, which was promi- 
nently displayed in Dublin. 

At 9.30 A.M. this morning the following statement was made by 
Commandant-General P. H. Pearse: 

The Irish Republic was proclaimed in Dublin on Easter Monday, 
24th April, at 12 noon. Simultaneously with the issue of the proc- 
lamation of the Provisional Government the Dublin Division of the 
Army of the RepubHc, including the Irish Volunteers, Citizen Army, 
Hibernian Rifles, and other bodies, occupied dominating points in 
the city. The G. P. O. was seized at 12 noon, the Castle was at- 
tacked at the same moment, and shortly afterwards the Four Courts 
were occupied. The Irish troops hold the City Hall and dominate 
the Castle. Attacks were immediately commenced by the British 
forces and were everywhere repulsed. At the moment of writing this 
report (9:30 a.m. Tuesday) the Republican forces hold all their posi- 
tions and the British forces have nowhere broken through. There 
has been heavy and continuous fighting for nearly twenty-four hours, 
the casualties of the enemy being much more numerous than those 
on the Republican side. The Republican forces everywhere are 



346 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

fighting with splendid gallantry. The populace of Dublin are plainly 
with the Republic, and the officers and men are everywhere cheered 
as they march through the streets. The whole center of the city is 
in the hands of the Republic, whose flag flies from the G. P. O. 

Commandant-General P. H. Pearse is commander in chief of the 
Army of the Republic and is President of the Provisional Govern- 
ment. Commandant-General James Connolly is commanding the 
Dubhn districts. Communication with the country is largely cut, 
but reports to hand show that the country is rising, and bodies of 
men from Kildare and Fingall have already reported in Dublin. 

Later the same day the following manifesto was issued to 
the people of the city by President Pearse: 

THE PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT 

TO THE 

CITIZENS OF DUBLIN 

The Provisional Government of the Irish Republic salutes the 
Citizens of Dublin on the momentous occasion of the proclamation 
of a 

SOVEREIGN INDEPENDENT IRISH STATE 

now in course of being established by Irishmen in arms. 

The Republican forces hold the lines taken at 12 noon on Easter 
Monday, and nowhere, despite fierce and almost continuous attacks 
of the British troops, have the lines been broken through. The coun- 
try is rising in answer to Dublin's call, and the final achievement of 
Ireland's freedom is now, with God's help, only a matter of days. 
The valor, self-sacrifice, and discipline of Irish men and women are 
about to win for our country a glorious place among the nations. 

Ireland's honor has already been redeemed; it remains to vindi- 
cate her wisdom and her self-control. 

All citizens of Dublin who believe in the rights of their country 
to be free will give their allegiance and their loyal help to the Irish 
Republic. There is work for everyone — for the men in the fighting 
line, and for the women in the provision of food and first aid. Every 
Irishman and Irishwoman worthy of the name will come forward to 
help their common country in this her supreme hour. 

Able-bodied citizens can help by building barricades in the streets 
to oppose the advance of the British troops. The British troops 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 347 

have been firing on our women and on our Red Cross. On the 
other hand, Irish regiments in the British army have refused to act 
against their fellow-countrymen. 

The Provisional Government hopes that its supporters — which 
means the vast bulk of the people of Dublin — will preserve order 
and self-restraint. Such looting as has already occurred has been 
done by hangers-on of the British Army. Ireland must keep her 
new honor unsmirched. 

We have lived to see an Irish Republic proclaimed. May we live 
to establish it firmly, and may our children and our children's chil- 
dren enjoy the happiness and prosperity which freedom will bring. 

Signed on behalf of the Provisional Government, 

P. H. Pearse, 
Commander in chief of the Forces of the Irish Republic 
and President of the Provisional Government. 

The reader is thus enabled to compare the statements is- 
sued by the opposing forces. On the one hand we have the 
preparations which were being made by the British to in- 
close the Republicans in a cordon of fire and steel, and, on 
the other, the high hopes which animated the men who had 
risked all for the purpose of saving the soul of their country. 



CHAPTER LIII 

The Fighting on Tuesday 

THE one outstanding fact that was obvious during the 
period ending at midnight on Tuesday was that the 
RepubUcans held practically every point they had 
seized on the Monday. That the British had been surprised 
at the sudden turn of affairs may account for this, at least in 
some measure. But the actual reason was that the British, 
in spite of their vastly superior numbers, had no intention 
of taking any chances. They went to work in a methodical 
and systematic manner. Their plan of campaign was a sim- 
ple one; they meant to inclose the rebels and burn them 
out. They meant to do so with the least possible loss to 
themselves and with as much loss to the enemy as possible. 
All this is strategy approved by military experts. 

The fighting on Tuesday morning was more or less spas- 
modic. There is nothing to show that there was anything 
in the nature of a general engagement during the day, al- 
though sniping took place in the vicinity of all the points 
occupied by the Republicans. The only actual engagement 
on record is that which took place at the City Hall and the 
offices of The Daily Express on Cork Hill, almost directly 
opposite the City Hall and the entrance to Dublin Castle. 

In a previous chapter mention has been made of the fact 
that John O'Reilly had succeeded to the command of the 
forces at the City Hall. He was the first to fall in the new 
assault, but, although his death deprived his men of fine 
leadership, they continued to make a gallant stand against 
tremendous odds. 

The first force of the attack fell on the City Hall, and 
came from the upper end of Cork Hill. Here a number of 
the military established themselves on each side of the streets 



THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 349 

and on the roofs of the houses and began a cross fire on both 
the City Hall and The Daily Express offices. So severe was 
the volleying that it became impossible for any of the de- 
fenders to go near to a window in either building without 
risking instant death. In spite of this, however, a vigorous 
defense was maintained, and, when the military came from 
their shelters and made the first charge on these two posi- 
tions, they were met with so severe a fire that they were 
forced to retire. 

There was another period of volleying and then another 
charge. This was also repulsed. Again and still again the 
same tactics were tried, and charges were made under cover 
of fierce volleying, but in every case the defenders were able 
to hold their own and force the attackers to retire. Dur- 
ing this fighting the British lost far more heavily than the 
Republicans, who had the advantage of their protected posi- 
tions. Eventually the British decided that they would "con- 
solidate" the positions they then held, and wait for a more 
favorable time to force the rebels out of the City Hall and 
the newspaper offices. Instead of wasting their energies on 
these two points they extended their line along Dame Street 
towards Trinity College, and thus, as stated in the British 
report, drew a line between the two main bodies of the 
Republican Army. 

Meanwhile spasmodic fighting was going on at Boland's 
Mill in Ringsend, where Commandant De Valera was mak- 
ing his position doubly strong, and at Stephen's Green, where 
the Republicans had been driven back from Portobello Bridge 
and forced to retire along Harcourt Street. At the South 
Dublin Union Commandant Ceannt was still holding his 
position, although faced by a greatly superior force of the 
enemy. Across on the other side of the Liffey Commandant 
Daly was in complete possession of the Four Courts area 
extending as far as Phibsboro until late in the evening, 
when a heavy attack was made on the barricade erected 
across the Cabra Road at Doyle's Corner. 

This barricade may be said to have constituted the north- 



350 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

erly outpost of the defenses of the city. It commanded the 
North Circular Road, Phibsboro Road, and the canal lead- 
ing to the Broadstone Station. It occupied a position giv- 
ing to the Republicans command also of Berkeley Street, 
which led down to O'Connell Street, and the lower end of the 
North Circular Road leading down to the North Wall. It 
made these roads impassable for the military coming from 
the Phoenix Park and from Cabra. It was, therefore, es- 
sential to the British that this obstacle should be removed. 

Towards evening on Tuesday rain began to fall in a heavy 
shower, and the men back of the barricade were drenched. 
Worse than this, however, much of their ammunition was 
also affected by the rain, and was later found to be useless. 
While this fact did not in any material degree effect the fate 
of the barricade, it hastened it. 

Scouts sent out along the Cabra Road as far as the rail- 
road bridge reported, just as dusk was falling, that a large 
body of the military was approaching from the direction of 
the Park. Sharp-shooters were sent out for the purpose of 
holding these off as long as possible, and another volleying 
engagement took place. This, however, was of short dura- 
tion, as the British advanced at the run, and forced the little 
band of half a dozen men to retire, but not until they had 
inflicted some losses on the enemy. 

With the first approach to the barricade captured, there 
was a momentary pause. The men behind the barricades 
waited. Somewhere out there in the drenching downpour 
and the darkness the enemy faced them. A rifleman sent 
a random shot whistling into the void. Immediately the 
blackness was lighted by a score of red flaming points of 
light and a rain of bullets rattled around the barricade. One 
man inside toppled over, shot in the head. Then there was 
more darkness. 

One can well imagine the tense feeling of fhe men inside 
the barricade. They knew that the enemy was in force and 
that the position they defended was of vital importance, even 
as an outpost. They felt that the military were creeping up 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 351 

closer and closer to them, and that they would have soon to 
withstand the. shock of a bayonet charge. Yet, these young 
and untrained soldiers stood to their posts with all the 
steadiness of veterans. 

Less than thirty minutes after the first engagement, and 
when the Republicans were beginning to wonder if the 
British were afraid to face a fight, something happened. 
There was a sudden *'boom" away up the Cabra road, a 
flame of fire, and then the shriek of a shell. A moment later 
the defenders of the barricade heard the explosion of shrap- 
nel over their heads and the rattle of the flying fragments 
all around them. 

This was something more than they had been expecting. 
They knew, of course, that artillery might be used against 
them, but they had not anticipated it at that moment. They 
had expected a charge from the enemy and instead they were 
confronted by something more deadly, something they could 
not fight with rifles. They could but cower behind their 
slender defenses to avoid the flying bullets from the bursting 
shells as best they might. It was obvious that the British 
meant to take no chances, and that they were determined 
to destroy the barricade as completely as possible. 

One shell followed another with almost monotonous regu- 
larity. Man after man fell behind the barricade. Then 
one of the shells struck the barricade square in the center, 
blowing a great hole in it, and rendering it both useless and 
untenable. In addition to the wreck made of the barricade, 
the shrapnel burst high in the air and killed and wounded a 
number of people in houses near the scene of the fight. 

With the blowing out of the barricade the men who were 
trying to defend it had to retreat. They fell back towards 
Blacquir Bridge and established positions on both sides of 
the roadway, covered by the arches of the bridge. Soon 
afterwards the military advanced at a run under cover of 
their artillery. Finding the barricade unoccupied, they 
halted and a messenger was dispatched to the rear. This 
resulted in a change in the aim of the artillery gunners, and 



352 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

the shrapnel was soon bursting over the head of the bridge. 
Under cover of this shower of bullets the military made an- 
other rush down the North Circular Road. 

With several of their men killed, it was found impossible 
for the defenders to hold the bridge against the swarms of 
military that charged down upon them. It was a case of 
half a score against three or four hundred. They fell back 
along the canal bank in the direction of the Broadstone. The 
clay path along the canal bank was slippery with the rain, 
and the lack of light combined with this to make the ad- 
vance of the military all the more difficult to observe. That 
the Republicans were not subdued was made evident by 
the continued firing which marked their retreat. 

Those who know the canal at this point will have no trouble 
in picturing to themselves the fight that took place that dismal 
Tuesday night. For half a mile or more the canal runs 
in a straight line almost due south from the Blacquir Bridge 
to the City Basin at the Broadstone. The only path is 
along the western side. Old houses look down on the slug- 
gish water from a respectable distance from the path itself. 
A few straggling gardens add to the desolateness of the 
scene. Lamps there are none, from one end of the line to 
the other, for the canal at this point had long fallen into dis- 
use, owing to the competition of the railroad. The path was 
unpaved, with the exception of a narrow ledge running close 
to and almost flush with the water. 

It was along this path that the fight was in progress be- 
tween the Irish Republicans and the English soldiers. Half- 
way along the bank fewer than a dozen men lay on the 
wet earth sending shot after shot into the darkness in the 
direction of the bridge. In reply came volley after volley 
and a straggling succession of single shots that every now 
and then would increase in intensity until the clay and the 
water were splashed into the air as though by a hailstorm. 
And all the while the rain streamed from the lowering skies 
in torrents. 

Then, once again, came that "boom" and shriek that had 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 353 

heralded the downfall of the barricade. The military had 
brought the guns to the bridge and the rain of shrapnel 
again rattled over the Republicans. Heavy artillery and 
a regiment of soldiers for the purpose of subduing ten men! 

But there was nothing left for the Republicans to do but 
to retire. The shrapnel was sure to find them sooner or 
later, and all of them might be wiped out by one straight 
shot. One by one they crept over the little bridge that led 
into Berkeley Street and had been erected for the convenience 
of the parishioners of the Berkeley Street Catholic Church. 
As they made their escape, the white circular clouds of the 
bursting shrapnel shells were forming in the air over them, 
and bullets were cutting into the water on either side. The 
wind was rising, and the rain pelted down harder than ever. 
With half of their men lost in the fighting, the ten survivors 
made their way to safety. Thus ended the battle of Cabra, 
in which a regiment of men and a section of artillery was 
used to drive out twenty Republicans. 

The same British force, finding the enemy routed, even- 
tually dared an advance along the now deserted canal bank. 
Simultaneously another force attacked along the railroad 
line towards the Broadstone. So overwhelming was this 
force that the rebels were forced to evacuate the station, 
and formed their lines anew on the road below the viaduct. 
Here they withstood one attack after another, the power of 
the artillery being insufficient to drive them back. 

While these events were in progress, quietness reigned in 
the vicinity of the General Post Office and at the other 
centers. There was, of course, some sniping, but the British 
were busily driving in their cordon and were not as yet in- 
clined to risk a general encounter. Troops were being poured 
into the city on all sides and more were on the way. The 
British could afford to wait and take their time. 

Thus Tuesday passed, and the Irish Republic was two days 
old. It is a strange fact that there were many in the city 
who seemed to know little or nothing of what was going on. 
One would be inclined to think that Dublin would have been 



354 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

in a turmoil during those two days. Yet such was not the 
case. There were those who were apathetic, as there were 
also those who were tense with the excitement and the wonder 
of it all. An inkling of the other attitude may be gleaned 
from the words of a writer who says that he was a witness 
of the incidents he describes. While some of his statements 
must be discounted in view of the medium through which 
he expressed his views, they are not uninteresting, and ad- 
vantage will be taken later to refer to his articles. Writ- 
ing on the incidents of the rising, "M. M. O'H" remarks, 
in The Freeman's Journal: 

Women sat in the doorways, men lounged at the street corners, the 
children cut all sorts of capers up the side streets. Here indeed was 
holiday, a few hundred yards off was national tragedy, and the most 
sensational episode in Irish history for a century. What a queer 
thing a city is to be sure! . . . Dorset Street was Gardiner's Street, 
only more respectable and animated, but apparently as unmoved by 
what was going on down town. Could it be that the news had not 
yet reached the people .^^ Impossible, it seemed a long long time since 
I had heard the glass crashing in Abbey street. That was the aspect 
of the city long after the rising had begun. Why should one be sur- 
prised? In Leighton's book about the Paris Commune you will find 
the very selfsame phenomenon noted. Utter unconcern in one street, 
fierce and bloody tragedy in a street close by. 

But this was an aspect that was soon to be changed. With 
the dawn of Wednesday came events fraught with terror to 
Dublin, events the like of which had never before occurred 
in her long and tragic history; events that threw a spell of 
terror over the people, and aroused a tense and burning 
hatred that will be carried on in Ireland as long as there are 
Irish fathers and mothers to teach and train their children. 



CHAPTER LIV 

The Battle of Mount Street Bridge 

THE Battle of Dublin may be said to have begun at 
seven o'clock on Wednesday morning, April 26, 
1916. What had transpired during the previous 
period from the declaration of the Irish Republic at noon 
on Monday morning were merely preliminary skirmishes. The 
actual engagement began on Wednesday morning. 

The morning was gloriously fine, in striking contrast to the 
wild rainstorm of the night before. The sun shone brightly 
from a clear sky, and it was obvious that the day was going 
to be unusually warm for the time of the year in Ireland. 
By this time the vast majority of the inhabitants of the 
city were aware of what was happening, and many people 
were around the streets at an early hour. For hours troops 
had been arriving in the city, and were taking up their 
places in the cordon that was being woven around the rebels. 
In addition to the men and the artillery that were summoned 
to the assistance of the Empire, there also arrived the Helga, 
a naval gunboat, which pushed up the Liffey opposite the 
Custom House. 

At seven o'clock comparative silence reigned in the city, 
and, therefore, it came as rather a shock when the air shook 
with the sudden reverberations of heavy artillery. People 
up on the heights around Glasnevin saw by the rings of 
smoke that rose into the quiet air that the firing was some- 
where on the river. Soon the word was passed around that a 
British warship was shelling the rebels and that the city was 
in flames! 

The Helga trained its guns first of all on Liberty Hall, 
and for over an hour the shells shrieked across Beresford 
Place from the center of the river. The aim of the men on 



356 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

the gunboat was bad. Of all the shots fired only a very 
small percentage struck Liberty Hall itself; the rest either 
spent their fury on the street or struck the property adjoin- 
ing the Headquarters of the Citizen Army. This fact is 
borne out not alone by the statements of actual eyewitnesses, 
but by photographs of the scene of the bombardment taken 
after the rising. 

After between fifty and one hundred shells had thus been 
fired at Liberty Hall, the British redcoats decided to push 
their infantry forward. As the signal was given for the fir- 
ing to cease from the Helga, a volley of rifle bullets hurtled 
across from the Custom House, and, with a ringing cheer, 
the British dashed forward to the assault. Across Beresford 
Place they swept, their bayonets flashing in the morning sun- 
light. Up to the old door they dashed and then to the in- 
terior of the building, which had been the bane of the police 
and Secret Service men of Dublin for five years. The British 
had at last captured the hated stronghold, and no mercy was 
to be shown to those inside. But there was a strange and 
uncanny silence within. There were no cries for mercy from 
captured rebels. There were no rebels to capture. Liberty 
Hall was empty, even to the last cartridge, and had been so 
all the time that the furious bombardment was in progress. 
Nothing remained for the victors but a ruin. Long before 
the rising a passage had been dug underground that enabled 
those inside the building to make their escape at any time 
that suited them without the knowledge of the enemy. While 
the Helga was wasting shells that might have been used on 
the Germans, the men of the Citizen Army who had remained 
in Liberty Hall during the night were over in the General 
Post Office partaking of a hearty breakfast. 

A few minutes after the evacuation of Liberty Hall be- 
came known, the booming of the guns on board the Helga 
began once more. This time, however, the shells were 
directed against O'Connell Street. With their guns elevated, 
the British gunners sent shell after shell into the heart of 
the city, destroying houses and stores. The sound of the 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 357 

firing was heard all over the city, and the people of Dublin 
knew that it was now a fight to a finish, and that red ruin 
and destruction stared the city in the face. 

Apparently the fruitlessness of this kind of attack impressed 
itself on the minds of the military authorities, for, after a 
while, it ceased, but not before several buildings had been 
set on fire. The actual damage done in this bombardment 
to the positions occupied by the Republicans was of no con- 
sequence, and the firing resulted merely in wanton damage 
to property. 

But other matters were going on at the same time. The 
cordon was being drawn in tighter and tighter. On the south 
side the British had succeeded in cutting off all communica- 
tions between the General Post OflSce and Stephen's Green. 
On the north, the cordon, owing to the defeat of the rebels 
at Cabra, was being drawn down through Dorset Street and 
Gardiner Street to Parnell Street. It was obvious that this 
prevented any relief for the Volunteers from the north, un- 
less reinforcements were sent in in large numbers. Without 
these reinforcements the Republican headquarters were faced 
by a wall of steel on their northern flank. 

There was another episode of this day that remains to be 
chronicled. This is the engagement that will go down in 
history as the Battle of Mount Street, at once the most 
bloody and the most effective of all the engagements during 
the Revolution. More than anything else, it had the effect 
of impressing on the minds of the British the caliber of the 
men with whom they had to deal. 

As has already been stated, the British military authori- 
ties were taking no risks and were pouring troops into the 
city as fast as they could arrive by train and transport. On 
Tuesday evening the 178th Infantry Brigade began to ar- 
rive at Kingstown, and, in accordance with their orders, 
left the port by road in two columns. This was owing to 
the fact that the railroad tracks had been removed by the 
rebels on Monday. The left column, consisting of the Fifth 
and Sixth battalions of the Sherwood Foresters, made their 



358 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

way by the Stillorgan-Donnybrook road and the South 
Circular Road to the miUtary headquarters at the Royal 
Hospital, where it arrived without opposition, having avoided 
the rebels at the South Dublin Union. The right column, 
consisting of the Seventh and Eighth battalions of the 
Sherwood Foresters, made their way by the main route 
through Ballsbridge, intending to pass through Merrion 
Square and thence to the Trinity College area. 

Shortly after three o'clock, when the head of the Seventh 
Battalion was observed coming towards Ringsend, De Valera 
passed the word to his men to prepare for the assault. The 
rebel flag was run up over the school buildings where the 
rebels had entrenched themselves, and a warning shot was 
sent over the heads of the approaching soldiers. 

The Sherwoods, however, with a firm belief in their strength, 
dashed forward, after sending a volley to clear the way. As 
they neared the junction of Haddington Road and North- 
umberland Avenue, they were met by a storm of hot lead. 
The bullets came from each side of the street,* and were aimed 
with deadly effect. Line after line of the British was mowed 
down, and the entire battalion thrown into hopeless confu- 
sion. The British halted in front of the piled-up bodies of 
their comrades, and then they broke and fled, in spite of the 
curses and exhortations of their officers. In this engage- 
ment the British lost over one hundred dead and wounded, 
including two officers, one of whom was Adjutant-Captain 
Dietrichsen. Among the wounded was Lieutenant-Colonel 
Fane, and a large number of other officers were put out of 
action. It was the first smashing defeat of the British. A 
percentage of an entire battalion had been wiped out, and 
the advance on Trinity College stayed. 

It was two hours before the British decided to make an- 
other advance. This time they had the assistance of bomb- 
ing parties, led by Captain Jeffares, of the Bombing School 
at Elm Park, an officer who was ranked as one of the fore- 
most experts in the world in this line. With considerably 
more caution the British now made their advance. As they 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 359 

were starting on their mission, orders were received from the 
Royal Hospital that they were to win their way through at 
any cost. Thus spurred on, and after a deadly volleying 
and under cover of the bombs and rifle fire, the Foresters 
made their charge. It was evident that they were smarting 
from the defeat and the disgrace of the engagement two 
hours before, and were determined to wipe out both. They 
came on at the double, cheering as they charged, and made 
their way right up to the end of the bridge head. But a 
hail of bullets again met them. From every side, in spite of 
the bombs and counter-volleying, the Republicans poured 
lead into the ranks of the advancing English. It was hot 
and bloody work; it was war in real and actual earnest. 
Wave after wave of men dashed at the bridge head, and 
wave after wave of men was swept out of existence. A wall 
of dead and dying was piled up and formed an additional 
barricade, and it became the horrid work of the bombing 
parties to blast their way through this wall of mangled flesh 
and bone to get to the Republicans. Before this was ac- 
complished, many hundreds of the British had perished, 
and the Seventh Battalion of the Sherwood Foresters was 
practically exterminated. 

It was only after six hours of the bloodiest and most 
desperate fighting that the British, who had suffered enor- 
mous losses in killed and wounded, were able to drive the 
Irish from their positions. This they did with the aid of 
bombs and machine guns, but here again they found that a 
passage had been constructed underground, and that the 
rebels had escaped. All they found, when they at length 
broke through and into the positions held by the Republi- 
cans, were half a dozen wounded men. The actual losses to 
the Irish were insignificant, and were scarcely in the propor- 
tion of one to a hundred of the enemy, of whom it was 
calculated that well over fifty per cent fell during the several 
hours of the repeated assaults. So severe were the losses 
that, in spite of the fact that the rebel positions had been 
evacuated, the remnant of the Seventh and Eighth bat- 



360 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

talions of the Foresters did not dare to push on to Trinity 
that night, notwithstanding the positive orders they had re- 
ceived. They waited till close on midnight when they were 
reinforced by the arrival of the South Staffordshire Regiment. 
The new arrivals occupied the positions that the Foresters 
had won, and thus allowed the weary remnant of the Seventh 
and Eighth battalions to retire. 

The following is the official British account of the battle, 
written by General Maxwell. In his report he has made 
more than one misstatement, and has also ridiculously imder- 
estimated the number of the British casualties: 

At about 5 : 30 p.m. orders were received (by the officers at Mount 
Street) that the advance to Trinity College was to he pushed forward at 
all costs, and therefore at about eight p.m., after careful arrangements, 
the whole column, accompanied by bombing parties, attacked the 
schools and houses where the chief opposition lay, the battalions 
charging in successive waves, carrying all before them, but, I regret 
to say, suffered severe casualties in doing so. 

Four officers were killed, 14 were wounded, and of other ranks 
216 were killed and wounded. 

In views of the opposition met with, it was not deemed advisable to 
push on to Trinity College that night, so, at 11 p.m. the 5th South 
Staffordshire Regiment, from the 176th Infantry Brigade, reinforced 
this column, and by occupying the positions gained allowed the two 
battalions Sherwood Foresters to be concentrated at Ballsbridge. 

Before midnight the entire city was ringing with the ex- 
ploit of the Republican forces. This victory instilled new 
confidence in the people, and at the same time had the effect 
of bringing to the British a realization of the task to which 
they had set themselves. 

That night, as the immense crowds gathered far outside 
the military cordon that surrounded O'Connell Street, they 
saw an angry red glare in the sky over the city. It was the 
reflection of the fires that were eating into the very vitals 
of the city. 



CHAPTER LV 

The High Flame of Courage 

THAT night Dublin burned. Dense clouds of thick 
smoke, vivid sheets of red and scarlet flame, showed 
where the Irish Republic was being born in fire and 
blood. And through the smoke and flame was heard the 
dull boom of the artillery, the rattle of the machine guns, and 
the spitting of the rifles. Guns were booming from the 
south side of the Liffey, from the gunboat Helga, and from 
Trinity College. The battle of Dublin was in full swing. 
O'Connell Street was an inferno. With buildings blazing 
on each side of the street and heavy smoke rolling above, 
with bullets zipping from the pavement like hail, death 
stalked abroad and commanded every inch of this section. 
It is difficult to depict the actual conditions that prevailed 
in Dublin that Wednesday night and the two nights that 
followed. Those who have witnessed big conflagrations can 
gain some impression of the picture by imagining what a fire 
taking in whole blocks must have looked like. "M. M. O'H," 
the writer in The Freeman^s Journal, who witnessed the fires 
from a respectful distance, describes them as follows: 

The memory of the great fires will probably be as long as any of 
the memories of the week. Night after night we stood out in the 
suburbs looking towards the city — the doomed city, as we all 
thought. The awful red glare fixed and held one's eyes. It was 
impossible to look away. Vast surly masses of smoke went up and 
after them sprang the flames, and then the whole sky got bloody and 
the red spread in circles until another gust of smoke belched up, to 
be followed by another sickening glare of fire. Then a huge red 
blotch settled over some post, and we speculated whether it was this 
street or that, this place or another. First the seething was on the 
east, then to the west, now distant, then near, until finally all specu- 



362 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

lation ceased, for the whole city was Hke a horrid cauldron, glowing 
with a deep deep red. Will it never stop? The whole town will be 
burned up. How it spreads! That's O'Connell Street, and that's 
King's Inns for certain. The whole heart of Dublin is afire. Noth- 
ing can stop it. The slums will go like matchwood. Thousands will 
be burned to death. Awful hours these were, and ever and always 
the crack of the rifle as some sniper kept at his deadly task, heed- 
less of the havoc that enveloped the poor helpless city. 

Through the long hours of the night the gallant men and 
women of the Republic fought against enormous odds, and 
held their own. Through the fire and the shot and shell, 
through the blazing streets and the air that burned with the 
flying bullets, they never wavered. As the hours wore on 
toilfully and dreadfully towards the dawn of the fourth day 
of the Republic, the intensity of the battle increased. All 
over the city it was the same. At the South Dublin Union, 
at Roland's Mills, at the Four Courts, at a hundred and one 
minor points that the Republicans had captured, the shot 
and shell was poured in from thousands of weapons. But 
it was in the O'Connell Street area that the fighting was 
fiercest, the firing heaviest, and the fires the most appalling. 
The British had drawn their cordon to cover both ends of 
the street, with the result that a cross fire of bullets from 
rifles and machine guns whistled incessantly through the 
broad expanse of that thoroughfare. It was during this 
period and from this time to the end of the fighting that 
some of the most remarkable feats of courage of the Revolu- 
tion took place. 

The women, and especially those of the Cumann na mBan 
were on active service with the men. They acted as nurses, 
and in this capacity went fearlessly into the firing line in the 
discharge of their duty. They acted as messengers, and 
showed an entire disregard of danger. They acted as as- 
sistants to the men on the firing line, filling their rifles for 
them and carrying ammunition from one point to another. 
They acted as soldiers, taking their places in the firing line 
by the side of the men, firing with wonderfully good aim, 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 363 

and acting with the same cool courage that characterized 
their every action. 

Men who were in the actual fighting, who took part in the 
defense of the Post Office, and who afterwards escaped to 
the United States, bear eloquent testimony of the part played 
by the women. They were young women and old women, 
mere sUps of girls and mothers with sons and daughters, but 
all played the same noble part. Few of their names are yet 
known, but it may safely be assumed that every one of the 
women prisoners who later were sent into exile were among 
the number of those who fought for Ireland. There were 
women, too, who died for Ireland during Easter week, women 
who were shot on the firing line, girls who were killed while 
taking messages from one point to another, and in more in- 
stances than one, as will later be shown, Irish women who 
were shot dead by the gallant British under circumstances 
that would have brought the blush of shame to the cheek of a 
savage. 

There is on record, and it is mentioned as merely one in- 
stance out of many, the feat accomplished by a girl on this 
fateful Thursday. One of the Cumann na mBan messengers, 
a young girl, was detailed to take a message from Boland's 
Mills to the Post Office. She managed to get over the Butt 
Bridge in safety and then made her way into Abbey Street 
past Liberty Hall. At this point she was halted by a British 
officer, but broke away from him and ran towards O'Connell 
Street. Immediately the officer ordered his men to fire a 
volley after her, but she escaped. In O'Connell Street the 
bullets swept the roadway and the sidewalks, and it seemed 
impossible for even a cat to cross the street alive. But this 
dauntless girl crossed in safety and delivered her message. 

In this connection it will not be out of place to quote a 
statement sent to the American Newspapers by the London 
Central News Association, more particularly as it gives 
honor to the priests of Dublin who were in the city during 
the rising. On their mission of mercy, they faced every 
danger and went into the thick of the fighting. The story 



364 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

is that of a Red Cross nurse who was an eyewitness of the 
events she describes and was passed by the British censor: 

The Irish Rebellion is remarkable for one fact not, so far, recog- 
nized in England — namely, the very prominent part taken in it 
by Irish women and girls. 

On Easter Sunday, which was the day first appointed for the Irish 
Volmiteer maneuvers, and for which all the men were mobilized, the 
women in the movement were also mobilized and ordered to bring 
rations for a certain period. It was only at the last moment, and 
for sufficiently dramatic reasons, that the mobilization of both men 
and women was canceled. These Irishwomen, who did their work 
with a cool and reckless courage, unsurpassed by any man, were in 
the firing line from the first to the last day of the Rebellion. They 
were women of all ranks, from titled ladies to shop assistants, and 
they worked on terms of easy equality, caring nothing apparently 
but for the success of the movement. 

Many of the women were snipers, and both in the Post Office 
and in the Imperial Hotel the present writer, who was a Red Cross 
nurse, saw women on guard with rifles, relieving worn out Vol- 
unteers. 

Cumann na mBan girls did practically all the dispatch carrying; 
some of them were killed, but none of them returned unsuccessful. 
That was a point of honor with them — to succeed or be killed. On 
one occasion in O'Connell Street I heard a Volunteer captain call for 
volunteers to take a dispatch to Commandant James Connolly, under 
heavy machine-gun fire. Every man and woman present sprang 
forward, and he chose a young Dublin woman, a well-known writer, 
whose relations hold big Crown appointments, and whom I had last 
seen dancing with an aide-de-camp at a famous Dublin ball. This 
girl had taken an extraordinarily daring part in the insurrection. 
She shook hands now with her commander and stepped coolly out 
amid a perfect cross-rain of bullets from Trinity College and from 
the Rotunda side of O'Connell Street. She reached the Post Office 
in safety, and I saw Count Plimkett's son, who was the officer on 
guard, and who has since been shot, come to the front door of the 
Post Office and wish her good luck as he shook hands with her before 
she made her reckless dash to take Connolly's dispatch back to their 
own headquarters. 

This was only one instance, but typical of a hundred that I saw 
of the part played by women during the fighting week. They did 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 365 

Red Cross work — I saw them going out under the deadliest fire to 
bring in wounded Volunteers — they cooked, catered, and brought in 
supplies; they took food to men under fire at barricades; they 
visited every Volunteer's home to tell his people of his progress. I 
never imagined that such an organization of determined fighting 
women could exist in the British Isles. These women could throw 
hand grenades, they understood tne use of bombs — in fact they 
seemed to understand as much of the business of warfare as their 
men. . . . 

Another feature of the fighting little commented on was the ex- 
traordinary impression made on the Volunteers by the presence of their 
priests, who rushed to the buildings held by the Volunteers under 
the heaviest fire. It was no unusual sight to see a body of bareheaded 
Volunteers, with the Cumann na mBan girls by their sides, their 
rifles in their hands, kneeling in the firing line while their priest 
gave them the last battle-freed absolution of the Roman Catholic 
Church. 

Ambulance and first-aid work was carried out under extraordinary 
difficulties during the rising. During the worst fighting days the 
rescue of the wounded could only be eflFected at the risk of the res- 
cuers' fives. On Easter Wednesday the hospitals refused to send 
out more ambulances, and many wounded and dead lay in the streets 
for days unattended. On Saturday the body of a man killed on 
Tuesday still lay in Marlborough Street. 

The writer in the Freeman's Journal thus gives some 
first-hand impressions of the events of Thursday: 

By Thursday the military cordon was complete and the fighting 
within it was practically at close quarters, for rival snipers were 
potting at one another from all over the city, apart from the attack 
and defense of the strongholds held by the main bodies of the in- 
surgents, whose original muster of eight hundred had considerably 
increased. The air was alive with vicious sounds. One could distin- 
guish the service ammunition from the ammunition used by the 
insurgents, and people got so used to the difference that it was no 
unusual thing to hear it said "That's the rebels," "That's the 
military" as volley answered volley. But no one could now go next 
or near the struggle except at imminent danger to his life. So 
viciously did the fighting sound that no one without the cordon dis- 
played the slightest desire to get inside. But once again, like the 



366 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

moth to the candle, I wanted to get closer to the trouble. So mak- 
ing a detour with a friend, this time towards Kingsbridge, I found 
that it was possible about three o'clock in the day to get down to- 
wards Prussia Street and Stoneybatter. The same again! Just as 
we were getting into town, a sudden boom brought us to a stand- 
still. And then such rifle firing as had not yet been heard. I have 
never heard such a fearful racket. Boom again. Again fierce rifle 
firing, with what seemed to me to be sheer desperation in it. Boom 
again. Again a frightening fusillade. Boom again. Again volley 
upon volley. Pandemonium was loose in Stoneybatter and along 
the quays. My friend and myself were pinned to the ground. 
Another few minutes and, unless something or someone had stopped 
us, we would have been in the center of it. It must have been a 
bitter battle, but we were content to stand and listen until, as sud- 
denly as it began, silence absolute and complete brought us to our 
senses. I don't know which was the more startling — the sudden 
boom or the sudden silence. By this time the mihtary had got down 
to Frederick Street and Rutland Square and were raking O'Connell 
Street from the north, while their comrades at the other end of the 
Liffey were raking it from the south. . . . Needless to say the great 
thoroughfare, raked up and down and commanded by troops in 
Amiens Street as well, was a place where it might well be imagined 
no human being could live. A dead horse lay near Nelson's Pillar 
since Monday. The block of buildings at the north corner of Earl 
Street was on fire since Tuesday. Now a hurricane of lead swept 
the street from end to end. Mihtary snipers, too, were on vantage 
points around. I had spoken to a man who went through the street 
lying on the floor of an ambulance, while the relentless rain of bul- 
lets was pouring in. He could only give to it the old weather- 
beaten description of "Hell." "It was hell," he said; "the bullets 
were hopping everywhere. It was one continuous whizz." A poor 
fellow, who must have crept out of some cellar and who was evi- 
dently under the influence of drink, came into this inferno waving 
his hat, and proclaiming that he was a Dublin Fusilier. He was 
riddled. The Imperial Hotel as well as the General Post Office was 
defended by the Insurgents. It became necessary to send food 
across to the hotel. A volunteer was forthcoming. He slung the 
bag of food across his shoulder and started across the street. Through 
air alive with hot lead, over pavements from which the bullets 
hopped like hailstones, he shot over the broad street. Not a hair 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 367 

of his head was injured. The story should erase the word "despair" 
from the dictionary. 

The intensity of the firing at Stoneybatter referred to in 
the above quotation was part of one of the most brilliant 
features of the rebellion. It was in this district and almost 
in a direct line with the Four Courts that the Linen Hall 
Barracks was situated. Shortly after two o'clock on Thurs- 
day the rebels decided to make an attack on this fortress, 
from which a deadly sniping was being kept up. A body of 
Republicans was made up, led by Edward Daly himself, 
and, comprising less than one hundred men, started out at 
three o'clock. On their march they met a detachment of the 
British on their way to the barracks. The enemy had two 
machine guns with them, and at once opened fire on the 
Republicans. This was not returned to any extent, as Daly 
led his men to the charge without a second's hesitation and 
rushed the British, capturing the guns and a quantity of 
ammunition. 

The attack on the barracks was then commenced. The 
defenders of the barracks were well supplied with rifles and 
ammunition, and had also two pieces of artillery, of which 
they made the utmost use. They had one machine gun and 
the battle lasted for close on an hour, at the end of which 
time the lower portion of the building caught fire. This was 
extinguished by the defenders, but the Irish charged at the 
same moment and scaled the walls. During a fierce hand to 
hand fight the fire broke out anew. The rebels captured im- 
portant stores after they had subdued the defenders, but they 
were unable to cope with the fire. The barracks were burned 
to the ground, leaving only the bare walls standing. Thus 
at least one of these strongholds of the aliens was destroyed 
during Easter Week. 

Thursday came to a close with the fires still burning and 
the bullets flying thicker than ever. During the day further 
British troops arrived on the scene to reinforce the enemy. 
The panic of the British was increasing rather than decreas- 



368 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

ing. The most alarming rumors were in circulation through- 
out the city of disasters to British troops in other parts of 
the country, of German landings and of landings of Irish 
from America. And it was while these stories were being 
passed from one soldier to another that the news began to 
leak out of one of the most dastardly murders that have ever 
stamed the long and bloody record of the British in Ireland. 



CHAPTER LVI 

The Murder of Sheehy-Skeffington 

IT was the writer's privilege to know Francis Sheehy- 
Skeffington as an intimate friend, to obtain a close 
knowledge both of his views and his ideals during a 
lengthy residence in Dublin, and to learn from him a great 
deal concerning actual conditions in Ireland, during the visit 
he paid to America after he had been imprisoned by the 
EngHsh for his pacifist views. 

He was a man of simple tastes, with sincere motives and 
divine courage. He feared neither the scorn of his enemies 
nor the criticism of his friends. When he had made up his 
mind, after due consideration, that any particular course of 
action was the right one, he would follow out that line of 
action to the end. He was of abundant energy and the keen- 
est intellect. He held an enduring place in the hearts of 
those who knew him. His quick and ready sympathy were 
ever on the side of the weaker or the oppressed, and he 
spared no effort to assist them to the best of his power. 

He was not a Sinn Feiner, nor was he associated in any 
way with the physical force movement. He did not believe 
in physical force even as a means of gaining the independence 
of Ireland. He was a believer in peaceful propaganda, car- 
ried on by constitutional means. At the outbreak of the 
Rebellion he started to organize a volunteer police force to 
protect the citizens of Dublin. It was while he was carry- 
ing on this work that he met his tragic fate. 

On the second day of the Rebellion, he had already made 
some progress with his work. During that day he was ar- 
rested by the military authorities and the following day, 
together with two other men, he was taken out in Porto- 
bello Barracks yard and shot. His death was not instan- 



370 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

taneous. He crawled around the yard in a dying condition 
for thirty minutes after the volley had been fired, a fact 
that the British have tried to suppress. A second and then 
a third volley was fired into his body, thus ending his life. 

His murderer. Captain Bowen-Colthurst, tried to forge 
documents to show that Skeffington was implicated in the 
rising and was one of the ringleaders. He grossly insulted 
and lied to Mrs. Sheehy -Skeffington, when the widow, who 
did not then know of the death of her husband, made in- 
quiries as to his whereabouts. After a farcical court-martial, 
this man was adjudged guilty but insane, and sentenced to 
be confined in a criminal lunatic asylum "during His Maj- 
esty's pleasure." He was subsequently released. The out- 
cry made by Mrs. Skeffington and by the Irish in America 
forced the British to appoint, several months after the 
murder, a commission of inquiry. 

Lest anyone doubt the authenticity of the facts set forth, 
the members of the Commission, appointed by the English 
Government, will be allowed to tell the whole gruesome tale 
in their own official report. This document, one of the most 
amazing in the history of any country, follows: 

It was conceded on all hands before us that Mr. Sheehy-Skefl^g- 
ton had no connection with the Rebellion; his views were opposed 
to the use of physical force; and it appears that he had been engaged 
that afternoon in making some public appeal to prevent looting and 
the like. Mrs. Sheehy-Skeffington gave evidence of this fact, and 
her evidence is confirmed by a document which was found on him 
when he was searched and which contained a form of membership 
of a proposed civic organization to check looting. As he approached 
Portobello Bridge he was followed by a crowd, some of the members 
of which were shouting out his name. 

It was about dusk, and the disturbance had now continued for 
some thirty hours. A young oflScer named Lieutenant M. C. Morris, 
who was attached to the 3d Battalion of the Royal Irish Rifles at 
Portobello Barracks, had taken up duty an hour before in command 
of a picket at Portobello Bridge, occupying premises at the corner 
known as Davy's public house. His orders were to do his utmost to 
avoid conflict but to keep the roadway clear as far as possible. 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 371 

Lieutenant Morris heard people in the street shouting out Mr. 
Sheehy-Skeflfington's name, and he determined to detain him and 
send him to the barracks. Lieutenant Morris did not himself leave 
his post for many hours afterwards. He sent Mr. Sheehy-Skeffing- 
ton under an escort of two men to the barracks. 

Mr. Sheehy-Skeffington was searched by Captain Bowen-Col- 
thurst. This gentleman was an officer of sixteen years' service. He 
belonged to the Royal Irish Rifles, and had considerable experience 
of warfare. He had been with his battalion of the regiment at the 
front when he was seriously wounded and invalided home. At the 
time of the Dublin disturbances he was attached to the 3d Bat- 
talion at Portobello Barracks. Having searched Mr. Sheehy-Skeffing- 
ton, Captain Bowen-Colthurst about 9 o'clock handed over to the 
Adjutant what he had found upon him. The Adjutant made copies 
of these documents and produced them before us; they were few 
in number, and none of them had anything to do with the disturb- 
ances save the document already referred to, which was a draft 
form of membership for a civic guard. There was nothing of an 
incriminatory nature found on Mr. Sheehy-Skeffington. When we 
come to deal with the cases of Mr. Dickson and Mr. Mclntyre it 
will again be seen that nothing of consequence was found upon 
them, and the absence of compromising documents in all three cases 
is, in the light of a report subsequently made by Captain Bowen-Col- 
thurst, a fact of considerable importance. 

Later, on the same evening. Captain Bowen-Colthurst went out 
of the barracks in command of a party under orders to enter and 
occupy premises at the corner of Camden Street and Harrington 
Street, occupied by Mr. James Kelly for the purposes of his tobacco 
business. Mr. Kelly is an Alderman of the City and a Justice of 
the Peace, and had recently held the office of High Sheriff of the 
City. There is no question that the suspicion entertained against 
Mr. Kelly's loyalty was due to a misunderstanding, and that Mr. 
Kelly was, in fact, quite innocent of any connection with the out- 
break. Mr. Kelly's premises are some 300 yards on the city side of 
Portobello Bridge, and the route for Captain Bowen-Colthurst's 
party therefore lay from the main gate of the barracks along the 
lane leading into the Rathmines Road, and then along the Rath- 
mines Road over Portobello Bridge past Davy's public house. 

Captain Bowen-Colthurst adopted the extraordinary, and indeed 
almost meaningless, course of taking Mr. Sheehy-Skeffington with 



372 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

him as a "hostage." He had no right to take Mr. Sheehy-Skefl^g- 
ton out of the custody of the guard for this or any other purpose, and 
he asked no one's leave to do so. Captain Bowen-Colthurst's party 
consisted of a junior officer (Second Lieutenant Leslie Wilson) and 
about forty men. Before they left the barracks Mr. Sheehy- 
Skeffington's hands were tied behind his back, and Captain 
Bowen-Colthurst called upon him to say his prayers. Upon Mr. 
Sheehy-Skeffington refusing to do so, Captain Bowen-Colthurst or- 
dered the men of his party to take their hats off and himself uttered 
a prayer, the words of it, according to Lieutenant Wilson's evidence 
being: "0 Lord God, if it shall please Thee to take away the life 
of this man, forgive him for Christ's sake." 

The party proceeded from the main gate of the barracks to the 
turning into the Rathmines Road, where a shooting incident oc- 
curred which we thought it right to investigate, since Mr. Sheehy- 
Skeffington was present and since it was suggested (though not 
proved) that it might have led to some protest on his part, or might 
have had some bearing upon his subsequent treatment. We find 
it impossible to reconcile all the testimony given on this matter, but 
it w^as established that a youth named Coade with a friend named 
Laurence Byrne w^ere in the Rathmines Road when Captain Bowen- 
Colthurst's party came by. Captain Bowen-Colthurst asked what 
business they had to be in the road at that hour, and warned them 
that martial law had been proclaimed. The evidence as to what next 
happened is not consistent, but there is no suggestion that either of 
the yovng men showed any violence, and it was clearly established 
before us that Captain Bowen-Colthurst shot young Coade, who fell 
mortally wounded and was subsequently taken by an ambulance to 
the hospital in the barracks. Lieutenant Leslie Wilson testified that 
Captain Bowen-Colthurst fired with a rifle, but two civilian wit- 
nesses — whose good faith there is no reason to doubt — asserted 
positively that they saw Captain Bowen-Colthurst (whose identity 
was unmistakable, since he was a man of exceptional stature) brandish 
and fire a revolver. There was admittedly other firing as Captain 
Bowen-Colthurst's party marched down the road, which Lieutenant 
LesHe Wilson told us was for the purpose of securing that people 
at the windows should keep indoors. The evidence of the different 
witnesses can only he reconciled by inferring that more than one case of 
shooting occurred during the progress of Captain Bowen-Colthurst's party. 

On reaching Portobello Bridge Captain Bowen-Colthurst divided 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 373 

his party into two, and left half of it in the charge of Lieutenant 
Leslie Wilson, while going forward with the rest to attack Alderman 
Kelley's shop; he also left Mr. Sheehy-Skeffington at the bridge, 
giving Lieutenant Leslie Wilson orders that, if he (Captain Bowen- 
Colthurst) and his men were "knocked out," Lieutenant Leslie Wilson 
was to take command, and if they were fired upon, Lieutenant Wilson 
was to shoot Mr. Sheehy-Skeffington. 

The advance party then went on its way and was absent about 
twenty minutes; they threw a bomb into Alderman Kelly's shop 
and met with no resistance there. Alderman Kelly was absent; 
Mr. Mclntyre, who was a friend of Alderman Kelly, had been on 
the premises some time, and Mr. Dickson, who lived close by, took 
refuge there when he heard the soldiers firing as they approached. 
Miss Kelly, who is a sister of Alderman Kelly, gave us a detailed 
account of the raid on her brother's premises; it is evident from her 
account that Captain Bowen-Colthurst was in a state of great ex- 
citement. Dickson and Mclntyre, together with two other men who 
were shortly afterwards released, were taken into custody, and Cap- 
tain Bowen-Colthurst returned to barracks with them, picking up 
Mr. Sheehy-Skeffington and the other section of his party on the way. 

]VIr. Dickson and Mr. Mclntyre were searched, but nothing ma- 
terial was found on them. They spent the night in the detention 
room along with some other civihans. Mr. Sheehy-Skeffington, as 
being of a superior social position, was put into a separate cell, and 
was made as comfortable as possible. 

Mr. Dickson was the editor of a paper called The Eye-opener, and 
Mr. Mclntyre was the editor of another paper known as The Search- 
light. So far as there was any evidence on the point before us, it 
appears that the only reason for arresting either of these men was 
the circumstance that they were found on Alderman Kelly's premises 
and, as we have already stated, the suspicion entertained against 
this gentleman was without foundation. Mr. Dickson was a Scotch- 
man, and deformed. Neither he nor Mr. Mclntyre had any connec- 
tion with the Sinn Fein movement. 

Shortly after 10 a.m. the following morning Captain Bowen-Col- 
thurst came to the guard room. He appears on his first arrival to 
have entirely ignored Lieutenant Dobbin, who was standing in the bar- 
rack square near to the guard room entrance, and having passed into 
the guard room itself to have given his orders direct to the sergeant. 
These orders were to the effect that he required the three prisoners, 



374 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

Skeffington, Dickson, and Mclntyre, in the yard for the purpose of 
speaking to them. The yard in question is within the guard room 
block of buildings, being reached by a short passage from the guard 
room. It comprises a space less than 40 feet in length and some 
15 feet in width, and is surrounded by a high brick wall. 

During the few moments that were occupied by the calling out 
of the three prisoners. Captain Bowen-Colthurst stepped out of the 
guard room to the spot where Lieutenant Dobbin was still standing, 
and informed that officer that he was taking the three prisoners out 
for the purpose of shooting them, as he thought "it was the best 
thing to do." 

When Captain Bowen-Colthurst returned into the guard room after 
his brief statement to Lieutenant Dobbin, he ordered some of the 
guards, with their rifles, out into the yard, where the three prisoners 
had preceded them. All the men on duty had their magazines already 
filled, and seven of the guard, who appear to have been merely those 
that happened at the moment to be nearest the yard passage, ac- 
companied by Sergeant Aldridge, followed Captain Bowen-Colthurst 
out into the yard. What then occurred took place so rapidly that 
we have little doubt that none of the three victims realized that they 
were about to meet their death. We are confirmed in this view by 
the fact that all the witnesses, including civilian prisoners in the 
detention room, to whom everything that took place in the yard 
was audible, agree in stating that no sound was uttered by any of the 
three. 

While the soldiers were entering the yard Captain Bowen-Col- 
thurst ordered the three prisoners to walk to the wall at the other 
end, a distance, as we have stated, of only a few yards. As they 
were doing this the seven soldiers, entering the yard, fell into line 
along the wall adjoining the entrance, and immediately received from 
Captain Colthurst the order to fire upon the three prisoners who had 
then just turned to face them. All three fell as a result of the volley. 
Captain Bowen-Colthurst left the yard, and the firing party began 
to file out. 

Immediately upon hearing the volley. Lieutenant Dobbin (who 
was engaged in receiving the Adjutant's message outside) hastened 
through the guard room and entered the yard. On looking at the 
bodies he saw a movement in one of Mr. Sheehy-Skeffington's legs 
which gave him the impression that life was not yet extinct, and he 
exclaimed to Sergeant Aldridge, who was still in the yard, "Sergeant, 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 375 

that man is not dead." It is Sergeant Aldridge's impression (and we 
are inclined to accept the evidence of this witness, who was both ex- 
perienced and candid) that death had, nevertheless, been instantane- 
ous in all three cases, and that what Lieutenant Dobbin saw was a 
muscular contraction of the unfortunate gentleman's limb. As a re- 
sult, however, of what he saw, Lieutenant Dobbin dispatched one of 
the other officers of the guard. Lieutenant Tooley, in the orderly 
room to report and obtain instructions. At, or in the neighborhood 
of, the orderly room. Lieutenant Tooley met Captain Bowen-Col- 
thurst, and received from him the order to "fire again." Lieutenant 
Tooley returned with this message, and thereupon four soldiers (not 
all members of the first firing party) were ordered into the yard by 
Lieutenant Dobbin, and upon his directions fired a second volley into 
the body of Mr. Sheehy-Skeffington. 

Not long after the shooting had taken place, and before 10.30 
A.M., Captain Bowen-Colthurst reported verbally to the Adjutant 
at the orderly room that he had shot Mr. Sheehy-Skeffington and 
the editors of the Eye-opener and the Searchlight. Either then or 
later he gave as his reason for so doing the fear that they would 
escape or might be rescued by armed force. There was no foundation 
whatever for any apprehension as to the escape of these prisoners, and 
no sane person who honestly entertained such a possibility as a rescue 
would have seen in it any ground for distinction between these three 
prisoners and the other detained persons. At or about the same time, 
Captain Bowen-Colthurst verbally reported his action to Major 
Rosborough, adding that he had shot the three prisoners on his own 
responsibihty and that he possibly might be hanged for it. Major 
Rosborough told him to make his report in writing, and instructed 
the Adjutant to report the matter to the Garrison Adjutant at 
Dublin Castle. 

The disturbances continued throughout the week, and on Friday 
(April 28th) Mrs. Sheehy-Skeffington, who had last seen her husband 
in Westmoreland Street on the previous Tuesday afternoon, was still 
without definite information as to what had happened to him. As a 
result of alarming rumors about him which reached her from various 
sources, her two sisters, Mrs. Culhane, and Mrs. Kettle, on the 
morning of Friday went to the police station at Rathmines to make 
inquiries. The police had no information to give, but suggested that 
the two ladies might inquire at Portobello Barracks, where they 
accordingly went. 



376 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

Mrs. Kettle and her sister arrived at the barracks at about 1 p.m., 
and after some shght delay were admitted past the first and second 
gates. A jmiior officer, Lieutenant Beattie, came up to inquire as to 
their business. Mrs. Kettle and her sister thought it well to com- 
mence their inquiries by asking in the first place as to their brother. 
Lieutenant Sheehy. To this they received a courteous reply. They 
then asked as to their brother-in-law, Mr. Sheehy-Skeffington, 
whereupon the young officer with whom they were conversing be- 
trayed some confusion, asked them to excuse him, and went away 
to consult with some other officer. On returning, he informed the 
two ladies that he regretted that he would have to place them under 
arrest, giving as his reason that they were Sinn Feiners and had 
been seen speaking to Sinn Feiners. Mrs. Kettle and her sister 
pointed out the absurdity of the allegation and referred to the posi- 
tion of Lieutenant Kettle and of the late Mr. Culhane; they were, 
however, placed in charge of some soldiers and marched across the 
barrack square to the orderly room, outside which they remained 
standing, surrounded by soldiers, while a consultation of officers ap- 
pears to have taken place within. After some minutes Captain 
Bowen-Colthurst emerged from the guard room and questioned them. 
They repeated their inquiries as to Lieutenant Sheehy and as to 
Mr. Sheehy-Skeffiington. Captain Colthurst, in reply to the latter 
inquiry, said: *'I know nothing whatever about Mr. Sheehy- 
Skeffington." Mrs. Culhane referred to some of the rumors which 
had reached them, and Lieutenant Beattie, who was the only other 
officer actually present at tliis interview, made some remark to 
Captain Bowen-Colthurst in an undertone. Captain Bowen-Col- 
thurst then said: 'T have no information concerning Mr. Skeffing- 
ton that is available, and the sooner you leave the barracks the 
better." There was then an order given to have the ladies conducted 
back, and, by Captain Bowen-Colthurst's direction, they were for- 
bidden to speak to one another. The guard was dismissed at the 
gate, and the two ladies were conducted to the tramway line by 
Lieutenant Beattie. 

About four o'clock on the afternoon of Friday, after receiving her 
sister's report of what had just taken place in the barracks, Mrs. 
Sheehy-Skeffington got into touch with the father of the young man 
Coade, to whose death we have referred. Father O'Loughlin, the 
chaplain of the barracks, whom we have already mentioned, knew 
young Coade as a member of the religious sodality of which he 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 377 

(Father O'Loughlin) was spiritual director, and at a meeting of which 
Coade had been present on the night he met his death. The father 
of Coade was informed of his son's fate by Father O'Loughlin, and 
was permitted to visit the dead body in the mortuary at the barracks. 
Here the unfortunate man saw the body of Mr. Sheehy-Skeffington 
laid out beside that of his son, a fact which on Friday afternoon he 
communicated to Mrs. Sheehy-Skeffington. Mrs. Sheehy-Skeffington, 
on Mr. Coade's suggestion, at once sought out Father O'Loughlin 
and besought him for particulars as to her husband. She was told 
that he was dead and already buried. 

At 7 P.M. on this same Friday evening Mrs. Sheehy-Skeffington 
was putting her little son, aged seven, to bed, when a body of sol- 
diers from Portobello barracks headed by Captain Bowen-Colthurst 
and Colonel Allen (an officer of advanced years who had returned to 
service after the outbreak of the war and who was killed during the 
later stages of the Rebellion) arrived at the house. Mrs. Sheehy- 
Skeffington was alone in the house save for her boy and a young 
maid-servant. Before any attempt was made to obtain an entrance 
into the house, a volley was fired through the windows. A body of 
soldiers with fixed bayonets under Captain Bowen-Colthurst then 
burst in through the front door. No request for the door to be 
opened was made, nor was any time given to those in the house to 
open it. Mrs. Sheehy-Skeffington and her boy had bayonets pointed 
at them and were ordered to hold their hands above their heads. 
They were then, by orders of Captain Bowen-Colthurst, placed in the 
front room together with the maid-servant, and kept guarded while 
the house was searched. All the rooms in the house were thoroughly 
ransacked, and a considerable quantity of books and papers were 
wrapped up in the household linen, placed in a passing motor car, 
and taken away, Mrs. Sheehy-Skeffington has been herself a teacher 
of foreign languages, while Mr. Sheehy-Skeffington was at the time 
the editor of a paper known as The Irish Citizen, and a large part of 
the material removed seems to have consisted of text-books both in 
German and other languages as well as political papers and pam- 
phlets belonging to Mr. Sheehy-Skeffington. The search lasted until 
a quarter-past ten, when the soldiers departed; Mrs. Sheehy-Skeffing- 
ton, together with her boy and maid-servant, remained under arrest 
up to that hour. 

As a result of a communication to the military authorities in 
London, made by Major Sir Francis Vane (one of many officers who 



378 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

had reported at Portobello Barracks at the commencement of the 
outbreak), Captain Bowen-Colthurst was placed under "open" arrest 
upon May 6th, and subsequently on May 11th under "close" arrest. 
Major Sir Francis Vane was not an officer of the regiment stationed 
at the barracks, and had no responsibility for any of the events we 
have described. On the 6th and 7th of June, Captain Bowen-Col- 
thurst was tried by court-martial in Dublin for the murder of the 
three men and was found guilty but insane. 



CHAPTER LVII 

Hoping Against Hope 

ON Friday close on 60,000 British soldiers were fight- 
ing in Dublin against 1100 Irish. The cordon had 
coiled itseK in ever narrower folds around the men 
of the Republic, whose flag, however, was still flying defi- 
antly over the General Post Office, Boland's Mills, the 
South Dublin Union, the Four Courts, and elsewhere. The 
main strength of the British was concentrated on O'Connell 
Street, which was by this time a raging inferno of fire and 
shot. Scores of blocks of the buildings in the neighbor- 
hood of the Post Office were blazing, and shells were con- 
tinuously dropping on the Post Office itself. 

It was by this time evident that only one thing could save 
the Republic. Even at this late hour, after the men of Dublin 
had held out against enormous odds for five days, if the men 
of the country had risen there would have been still a big 
chance of victory. This was the one hope that animated 
the leaders. Early that morning Commandant Connolly 
prepared and issued a statement, which, owing to the fact 
that Connolly was seriously wounded in the thigh, was read 
to the men in the Post Office by The O'Rahilly. This is 
the document: 

"Army of the Irish Republic 
(Dublin Command) 
Headquarters, April 28, 1916. 
To Soldiers: 

This is the fifth day of the establishment of the Irish Republic, 
and the flag of our country still floats from the most important build- 
ings in Dublin, and is gallantly protected by the Irish officers and 
soldiers in arms throughout the country. Not a day passes without 
seeing fresh postings of Irish soldiers eager to do battle for the old 
cause. Despite the utmost vigilance of the enemy, we have been 



380 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

able to get information, telling us how the manhood of Ireland, in- 
spired by our splendid action, are gathering to offer up their lives if 
necessary in the same holy cause. We are here hemmed in, because 
the enemy feels that in this building is to be found the heart and 
inspiration of our great movement. 

Let us remind you what you have done. For the first time in 
700 years the flag of a free Ireland floats triumphantly in Dublin 
City. 

The British Army, whose exploits we are forever having dinned 
into our ears, which boasts of having stormed the Dardanelles and 
the German lines on the Marne, behind their artillery and machine 
guns are afraid to advance to the attack or storm any positions held 
by our forces. The slaughter they suffered in the first few days has 
totally unnerved them, and they dare not attempt again an infantry 
attack on our positions. 

Our Commandants around us are holding their own. 

Commandant Daly's splendid exploit in capturing Linen Hall 
Barracks we all know. You must know also that the whole popula- 
tion, both clergy and laity, of this district are united in his praises. 
Commandant MacDonagh is estabhshed in an impregnable position 
reaching from the walls of DubHn Castle to Redmond's Hill, and 
from Bishop Street to Stephen's Green. 

In Stephen's Green, Commandant holds the College of Sur- 
geons, one side of the square, a portion of the other side, and domi- 
nates the whole Green and all its entrances and exits. 

Commandant De Valera stretches in a position from the Gas 
Works to Westland Row, holding Boland's Bakery, Boland's Mills, 
Dublin Southeastern Railway Works, and dominating Merrion 
Square. 

Commandant Kent holds the South Dublin Union and Guinness's 
Buildings to Marrowbone Lane, and controls James's Street and 
district. 

On two occasions the enemy effected a lodgment and were driven 
out with great loss. 

The men of North County Dublin are in the field, have occupied 
all the Police Barracks in the district, destroyed all the telegraph 
system on the Great Northern Railway up to Dundalk, and are 
operating against the trains of the Midland Great Western. 

Dundalk has sent 200 men to march upon Dublin, and in the 
other parts of the North our forces are active and growing. 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 381 

In Galway Captain , fresh after his escape from an Irish 

prison, is in the field with his men. Wexford and Wicklow are strong, 
and Cork and Kerry are equally acquitting themselves creditably. 
We have every confidence that our Allies in Germany and kinsmen 
in America are straining every nerve to hasten matters on our behalf. 

As you know, I was wounded twice yesterday and am unable to 
move about, but have got my bed moved into the firing line, and, 
with the assistance of your officers, will be just as useful to you as 
ever. 

Courage, boys, we are winning, and in the hour of our victory let 
us not forget the splendid women who have everywhere stood by us 
and cheered us on. Never had man or woman a grander cause, 
never was a cause more grandly served. 

(Signed) James Connolly, 
Commandant-Generaly 
Dublin Division. 

Yet, in spite of these brave words, the leaders recognized 
they had accomplished all that could be hoped for at that 
time, and that they themselves were doomed to pay the 
penalty for the love of their country. The British had suc- 
ceeded in cutting the communications, and had thus ren- 
dered it impossible for one section to know what the other 
was doing. Furthermore, ammunition was running short, 
and they were surrounded by an enemy equipped with every 
engine of destruction that modern military science had been 
able to construct: an enemy that outnumbered them fifty 
or sixty to one. Even the most optimistic could not but 
know that the end was at hand. 

At the same time, they knew that they had effected the 
one great object which they had set out to attain. They 
had saved the soul of Ireland from the pollution of inaction, 
from the shame and degradation of sitting with hands folded 
while weapons were being taken and a country and people 
left defenseless. This was the spirit and the knowledge that 
buoyed them up during these last hours while they still 
fought on, hoping against hope that the rest of the country 
would come to their relief at the last minute, hoping and 



382 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

fighting when there was no hope and when the means of 
fighting were dwindhng with every shot that was fired. 

At 9.30 of Friday morning President Pearse signed the 
last proclamation previous to the document of surrender. 
It is a document that will be treasured as long as there is an 
Irish man or woman who loves his native land. It reads as 
follows : 

Headquarters, Army of the Irish Republic, General 
Post Office, Dublin 

28th April, 1916, 9: 30 a.m. 

The Forces of the Irish Republic, which was proclaimed in Dublin 
on Easter Monday, 24th April, have been in possession of the cen- 
tral part of the capital since 12 noon on that day. Up to yesterday 
afternoon Headquarters was in touch with all the main outlying 
positions, and, despite furious and almost continuous assaults by the 
British Forces, all those positions were then still being held, and the 
commandants in charge were confident of their ability to hold them 
for a long time. 

During the course of yesterday afternoon and evening the enemy 
succeeded in cutting our communications with our other positions 
in the city, and Headquarters is to-day isolated. 

The enemy has burnt down whole blocks of houses, apparently 
with the object of giving themselves a clear field for the play of 
artillery and field guns against us. We have been bombarded during 
the evening and night by shrapnel and machine-gun fire, but with- 
out material damage to our position, which is of great strength. 

We are busy completing arrangements for the final defense of 
Headquarters, and are determined to hold it while the buildings last. 

I desire now, lest I may not have an opportunity later, to pay 
homage to the gallantry of the soldiers of Irish Freedom, who have, 
during the past four days, been writing with fire and steel the most 
glorious chapter in the later history of Ireland. Justice can never 
be done to their heroism, to their discipline, to their gay and uncom- 
querable spirit, in the midst of peril and death. 

Let me, who have led them into this, speak, in my own and my 
fellow-commanders' names, and in the name of Ireland present and 
to come, their praise and ask those who come after them to remem- 
ber them. 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 383 

For four days they have fought and toiled, almost without cessa- 
tion, almost without sleep, and in the intervals of fighting they 
have sung songs of the freedom of Ireland. No man has complained; 
no man has asked "Why?" Each individual has spent himself, 
happy to pour out his strength for Ireland and for freedom. If they 
do not win the fight, they will at least have deserved to win it. But 
win it they will, although they may win it in death. Already they 
have won a great thing. They have redeemed Dublin from many 
shames, and made her name splendid among the names of cities. 

If I were to mention names of individuals, my list would be a 
long one. 

I will name only that of Commandant General James Connolly, 
commanding the Dublin division. He lies wounded, but is still the 
guiding brain of our resistance. 

If we accomplish no more than we have accomplished, I am satis- 
fied. I am satisfied that we have saved Ireland's honor. I am satis- 
fied that we should have accomplished more, that we should have 
accomplished the task of enthroning, as well as proclaiming the Irish 
Republic as a Sovereign State, had our arrangements for a simul- 
taneous rising of the whole country, with a combined plan as sound 
as the Dublin plan has been proved to be, been allowed to go through 
on Easter Sunday. Of the fatal countermanding order which pre- 
vented those plans from being carried out, I shall not speak further. 
Both Eoin MacNeill and we have acted in the best interests of 
Ireland. 

For my part, as to anything I have done in this, I am not afraid 
to face either the judgment of God, or the judgment of posterity. 

(Signed) P. H. Pearse, 
Commandant-General, Commander in Chief of the Army 
of the Irish Republic, and President of the 
Provisional Government. 

At the Post OflSce there were three lines of barricades, 
and every effort had been made to make the place impossi- 
ble of assault. For some hours on Thursday night the build- 
ing had been under artillery jSre, and this bombardment 
was kept up on Friday morning. Sean MacDermott was 
in charge of lines of hose, with which one fire after another 
that was started by the incendiary shells was extinguished, 
before it was able to secure a hold. One part of the build- 



384 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

ing after another was flooded with water, but the shells 
fell so fast and so thick that even these efforts were vain 
to prevent a conflagration. 

It was shortly after noon that the fire got beyond con- 
trol. Men were called from the firing lines to extinguish 
the blaze, but it foiled all their efforts. Shell after shell 
fell in the same place, the gunners evidently having dis- 
covered that their efforts were meeting with success. Guns 
were firing from the other side of the Liffey, from the gun- 
boat on the Liffey, from Talbot Street, and from Parnell 
Street. With the heavy artillery were combined machine 
guns, that kept up a continuous rain of bullets on the build- 
ing and on every inch of O'Connell and Henry Streets. It 
seemed to be the object of the British to set fire to the 
Post Office, and at the same time make it impossible for the 
Republicans to attempt to escape, even under a flag of truce, 
so that they would be burned alive. 

When it was seen that it was impossible to remain in the 
Post Office, the men were lined up in the yard at the back, 
and told that an attempt would be made to break through. 
Even at this time the spirits and the enthusiasm of the men 
and of their leaders were undiminished. The men cheered 
when told that they were going to have a hand-to-hand 
engagement. They did not seem to fear the hurricane of 
bullets that they knew was waiting for them outside the 
burning building. Someone started to sing, and the Irish 
National Anthem rose above the shriek and roar of the 
British shells: 

When boyhood's fire was in my blood, 

I read of ancient freemen, 
Of Greece and Rome who bravely stood. 

Three hundred men and three men. 

The men then began to collect all the foodstuffs that could 
be obtained. The building was thoroughly searched, in 
spite of the flames that were now raging and the shells that 
were dropping into the ruins every minute. The hand 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 385 

grenades had been brought down to the cellar as soon as 
the bombardment had started, and these were now por- 
tioned among the men. When all the preparations had been 
completed, the little band left the building by the side door 
in Henry Street. 

A dash was made across this bullet-swept thoroughfare 
into Moore Street on the other side. In that dash more 
than one of these brave men died, riddled with bullets. 
But his comrades pressed on, led by the intrepid O'Rahilly 
and safely gained Moore Street, where a barricade had been 
erected. Here, however, they were exposed to the fire of 
the military from Parnell Street. The Republicans en- 
trenched themselves in the best manner possible, and began 
to return the fire of the military. 

The deaths in the dash across Henry Street were the first 
that had taken place among the actual garrison in the Post 
Office, although men in the Post Office area had been wounded 
or killed. In spite of all the expenditure of ammunition on 
the part of the British for days past none of the men in the 
Post Office with the exception of Connolly had even been 
scratched. 

With the men who made the sortie were President Pearse, 
Sean MacDermott, James Connolly, who had to be carried, 
Tom Clarke, and Joseph Plunkett. 

The British were not slow to take advantage of the fact 
that the Irish had evacuated the Post Office. A machine- 
gun squad that had been operating in Talbot Street moved 
up to the corner of North Earl Street, so as to be in a posi- 
tion to fire across the side of Moore Street. As this meant 
that the Republicans would be hemmed in in this narrow 
street with a cross fire at both sides, it was determined to 
make an effort to force the retreat of the British in North 
Earl Street. The O'Rahilly undertook the leadership of 
the charge, and himself led his men into Henry Street. A 
heavy volley was directed against the British at the same 
time, and the rebels charged into O'Connell Street over a 
ground swept by a deadly cross fire, and forced the British 



386 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

to retire. Having accomplished all they could hope to do 
at this point, the Republicans also fell back. 

A murderous interchange of bullets was now taking place. 
The British had recovered from their set-back, and, smart- 
ing under a sense of defeat, they sent a hurricane of bullets 
into Henry Street. To this the Republicans replied in kind, 
and, although they lacked machine guns, their aim was so cool 
and so deadly that the British in Talbot Street were falling 
in scores. The first gun crew had been almost wiped out, 
the oflficer in charge was a corpse, and the other detachments 
that were running to the relief were also suffering heavily. 
One shell and then another burst over Henry Street, and 
showers of shrapnel followed. It was in the midst of this, 
one of the bloodiest fights that took place during the Rebel- 
lion, that The O'Rahilly fell, mortally shot, and died prac- 
tically instantaneously. 

While the loss of their leader was a sore blow to his men, 
they continued to fight on and were able to hold the end of 
Moore Street leading into Henry Street. This was really 
the rear of the position occupied by this force of the Repub- 
licans, as they held the end facing Parnell Street as their 
main line. But it was obvious that they would be able to 
hold out here only for a few hours at the most, as the shrap- 
nel was beginning to burst over them, and one after another 
of the houses and stores along the street blazed up as a re- 
sult of the bombardment. 

It was during the Friday that the British were at last able 
to complete their cordon around the Fourt Courts, and this 
was a serious blow to the men in Moore Street, as it cut 
off their last line of retreat. At the same time the men under 
Commandant Daly were making a magnificent resistance, 
and were in a position to hold out for several days. The 
men in Stephen's Green, at Boland*s Mills, where De Valera 
was giving the British more fight than they wanted, and at 
the South Dublin Union, were also keeping the flag flying. 
In spite of all the efforts of the enemy, the College of Sur- 
geons was still in the hands of the Countess Markievicz and 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 387 

the Fianna. Only in the Post Office area, where most of 
the strength of the British was concentrated, had the enemy 
made any real progress. But, when Friday night closed 
down, it was evident that there was no hope from the coun- 
try, that the fatal order of Eoin MacNeill had had its effect, 
and that the men of Dublin were doomed. 



CHAPTER LVIII 

A Grim Night Scene 

WIILE a multitude of facts regarding the Rebellion 
were suppressed by the British Government, there 
were some that were forced to the surface, and give 
an indication of the true state of affairs in Dublin during 
the rising. In this category is an incident which took place 
in Guinness's Brewery on Saturday night, April 29, and 
which, while of comparatively small importance in itself, 
is of value as an index of the condition of mind that pre- 
vailed among the British in Dublin even on that night 
when the Rebellion was virtually at an end. 

The following is a portion of the official account of the trial 
of a British officer for murdering his superior during the rising. 

Major General Lord Cheylesmore, K.C.V.O., presided over the 
Court, and Mr. Kenneth Marshall was Judge Advocate. 

The accused pleaded not guilty, and was defended by Mr. Henry 
Hanna, K.C. (instructed by Mr. Joseph Gleeson). 

The prosecution was conducted by Major E. G. Kimber, D.S.O. 
(instructed by Mr. Robertson, Chief Crown Solicitor's Office). 

Major Kimber, in opening the case, said the occurrences arose out 
of the late rebellion in Dublin. It appeared that at Guinness's Brew- 
ery the rebels had established themselves, south of the western corner 
of the brewery. It became a pitch dark night, and that was a matter 
which should be recollected. On the evening of April 28th about 7 
o'clock. Colonel Williams, who was in charge of the area, ordered 
Captain M'Namara to put a guard in the malthouse. Accordingly 
Captain M'Namara went there with Company, Quartermaster-Ser- 
geant Flood and nine men, and occupied the malthouse. The orders 
which Colonel Williams gave to Captain M'Namara were that he was 
not to return the snipers' shots and not to fire at all unless there 
were attempts to enter the brewery. At 11 o'clock that night Cap- 
tain Rotheram was ordered by Colonel Williams to take down Sec- 



THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 389 

ond Lieutenant Lucas (who was subsequently killed) to the brewery 
in order to relieve Captain M'Namara. Mr. Lucas belonged to King 
Edward's Horse, and at that time officers had been sent to different 
jobs. The guard in the malthouse belonged to the Royal Dublin 
Fusiliers. Of course Mr. Lucas was unknown to the Company, 
Quartermaster-Sergeant or any of the guard. Captain Rotheram took 
with him extra men, and when he left Mr. Lucas the guard numbered 
fifteen men. They were put out at different center posts in the build- 
ing, and the orders which Colonel Williams had given Captain 
M'Namara were repeated to Mr. Lucas in the presence of the ac- 
ctised, and in addition to that Captain M'Namara said: "It is inad- 
visable to open any of the windows, but if it is necessary to fire, it 
would be better to fire through the windows rather than open them 
and attract the attention of the rebels." He also told the accused 
that Mr. Lucas was relieving him. The official who acted as guide 
told the guard that there was no one in the building except three 
watchmen who, when they went their rounds, carried lights. It 
seemed that lights were seen by several of the guard during the 
evening from the houses round and from the direction of the dis- 
tillery. It was feared that the rebels might make an attack on the 
military from two directions, so that lights would cause consider- 
able suspicion, as they might be regarded as signals. 

At any rate, whatever it was, the guard got into a state of jumpi- 
ness, and the consequence was that when Lieutenant Lucas went 
round with Mr. Rice, one of the brewery officials, the sentries on 
several occasions got the idea that he was a stranger who had no 
business there. The conversations he had with them were misinter- 
preted, and they came to a conclusion which was utterly false, and 
unfortunately it was shared by the accused. Lieutenant Lucas 
opened a window. The men knew that orders had been given that 
the windows were not to be opened. It looked very suspicious. The 
state of mind into which accused had got at that time led him to 
arrest Lieutenant Lucas and Mr. Rice, who were subsequently shot. 
The officer, before being shot, was asked to "say his prayers," and 
having done so he said he was sorry, but "the boys led him into it." 
Soon afterwards another officer was coming down a staircase. He 
was challenged and searched, and rushed at the sergeant, knocking 
him down. The men of the guard fired and the second officer. 
Lieutenant Worswick, was killed, and also a civilian, who was with 
him, named Dockery. 



390 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

Captain Rotheram, of the 10th Reserve Calvary Regiment, de- 
posed to being on duty on the date in question with Colonel WilHams 
and Second Lieutenant Lucas. About 11 p.m. he received orders to 
take an oflScer to Guinness's Brewery to relieve Captain M'Namara. 
He took Lieutenant Lucas, and saw Captain M'Namara, who ex- 
plained the situation. He did not see the accused at the time, as it 
was quite dark. About 2 o'clock in the morning, he was in Watling 
Street and received a certain communication, and certain orders 
were given. Later a telephone message reached him to the effect 
that Mr. Rice was a prisoner. Witness gave orders to do nothing 
until daylight. About 3.30 a.m. he was told that there was a ser- 
geant outside who wanted to see him. He went out and saw the 
accused, who had with him about fourteen men. They all seemed 
very excited. The accused reported that he had shot two men, and 
he thought the malthouse was full of rebels. Witness asked him 
where Lucas was, and he said he thought he had shot him. He then 
went to the malthouse and searched it. He found on the first floor 
the bodies of Lieutenant Worswick and Mr. Dockery and on the next 
floor the bodies of Lieutenant Lucas and IVIr. Rice. 

Private Maurice McCarthy, R.D.F., examined by Major Kimber, 
stated that he was one of a picket under Quartermaster Flood in the 
malthouse of Guinness's Brewery on April 28. He was told an attack 
was expected from Robert Street. Witness was called by Quarter- 
master Flood and went up on the stairs. There was an officer there 
and a civilian. 

What took place .5^ I was ordered to search the officer. The 
Quartermaster said to the officer: "I know you." 

Had the Quartermaster a torch .'^ Yes, he held the torch so that 
the light fell on the faces of the officer and the civiHan. The officer 
and the civihan seemed to know each other, from a look that passed 
between them. 

What else took place.'* The Quartermaster gave the order to search 
them. 

What further.'' He told me to stand them up against a window 
and cover them with my rifle. How long were they kept there? 
For nearly an hour. 

After that did he say anything about Gring? He said he would 
have to fire. 

Did the officer say anything.'* He said he was a poor farmer's 
son, that he was sorry he was led into it. He asked to be allowed 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 391 

to say his prayers. The Quartermaster gave him permission to say 
his prayers, and he knelt down. 

While the officer was doing this, what was Quartermaster Flood 
doing; had he the torch in his hand.? Yes, all the time. 

Shining on them? Yes. 

When the officer got up.^^ He was crying when he got up. 

Did Quartermaster Flood give any orders? He gave orders to 
present and fire, and we obeyed the order. 

How many of you? About five it was. Witness further said that 
the officer fell down, but the civihan did not. The Quartermaster 
gave a second order to fire, and the civilian fell, but did not appear 
to be quite dead. The Quartermaster gave the order to shoot at 
him again, which I did. 

Witness then gave evidence relating to the shooting of Lieutenant 
Worswick and the man Dockery. 

Private Joseph Murphy, of the 5th Battalion Royal Dublin Fusiliers, 
said he was in the party, and went down to the malthouse at 12 
o'clock on the night of April 28. Witness was on duty at a window, 
and a strange officer came to him and opened the window. He 
leaned out, and then drew in his head again and said to the men on 
duty: "Are you Irishmen?" They said they were, and he asked 
them were they not ashamed of themselves to fire on Irishmen. 
They said they were not. 

Witness then described how Lieutenant Lucas and Rice were 
placed against the window before being shot. Lucas was asked for 
his name and said he was Lieutenant Lucas, of King Edward's 
Horse, and that he came from America. Witness noticed that when 
he took oflf his coat the inside clothing was very "raggy." After 
praying, he asked the Quartermaster-Sergeant for a chance, saying 
he was led into it. Later they met an officer and a civilian. They 
were both challenged twice, but did not reply, and the guard was 
ordered to cover them. The Quartermaster-Sergeant then asked 
them what was their business. Then they both looked at one 
another and made no reply. 

The officer clapped his hands and said, ** You are Sinn Feiners? " The 
Quartermaster-Sergeant "ground his teeth and said *No; we are not.'" 
The officer rushed at the Quartermaster-Sergeant and upset him. The 
guard then fired of their own accord, and the two men fell dead. 

The President said it was only fair to the deceased officers to read 
a statement which Captain Campbell had signed. 



392 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

This statement was to the eflfect that Second Lieutenant Lucas 
joined the Reserve Squadron after being in an Officers' Training 
Corps in April, 1915, and was attached to the British Expeditionary 
Force. He was signaling officer to the regiment, and was wounded 
in France and invahded home, joining the Reserve in December, 
1915, or January, 1916. Since that time he (Captain Campbell) 
had known both Lieutenant Lucas and his wife well. He was edu- 
cated in a public school and went to a University; he then went 
out to Canada as schoolmaster. He left that and went on to the 
Montreal Stock Exchange, and made a lot of money there. He mar- 
ried a Canadian lady, and their present address was 23 McGregor 
Street, Montreal, Canada. Mrs. Lucas showed him (Captain Camp- 
bell) a letter from Captain Lucas's commanding officer offering 
Lieutenant Lucas (who was promoted a few days before) the Adju- 
tancy of the regiment. Regarding Lieutenant Worswick, he joined 
at the Curragh on October 4, 1915. From that day he had known 
him well, and he was a steady, hard-working man. He had traveled 
a good deal, and had some property in Canada. Both officers bore 
an exemplary character. 

This concluded the case for the prosecution and 

After hearing evidence for the defense. 

The Court considered the case and 

The President announced that they found the prisoner not guilty. 



CHAPTER LIX 

The Triumph of Defeat 

IT is not necessary to linger over the last scenes of the 
Rebellion. One would fain draw a veil over this phase 
of the rising, were it not for the inspiring examples of 
heroic self-sacrifice, as the Republicans offered their lives 
before liberty's fane. For, while the Republic of Ireland 
sank temporarily into the bloody cauldron of defeat, the flam- 
ing torch of liberty, lighted at the burning pyre of Ireland's 
capital, shone forth once more over the land, shedding hope 
and grim determination and awakening the sons of the nation 
from the long slumber that for years had settled on the 
land. 

That the fight had ended in temporary defeat was obvious 
to the leaders on Friday, but they fought through the night 
and not until Saturday, April 29, did President Pearse de- 
cide to surrender in order to prevent the further sacrifice of 
non-belligerents, men, women and children, and of the lives of 
the men who were acting under his orders. 

The cordon of the British was now drawn tight around 
the center of the city and those other places where the 
Republicans were entrenched. The artillery had been rein- 
forced, and from 50,000 to 60,000 English troops were in the 
city. At every possible point of vantage, on roof-tops, on 
walls, and at street corners, lines of British soldiers were 
firing volley after volley, not so much at the rebels as in 
their direction, so as to make even an attempt at a sortie 
impossible. Parks of artillery were sending showers of shells, 
incendiary and shrapnel, bursting over the Irish positions, 
and thick heavy black clouds of smoke were pouring slowly 
skyward in all directions from the hundreds of buildings that 
were being destroyed by the flames. 



394 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

Shortly after noon on Saturday a Red Cross nurse brought 
to General Maxwell a message from President Pearse, asking 
what terms would be considered for a surrender. To this 
the British commandant replied that only unconditional 
surrender would be considered. An appointment was there- 
upon made, and, at a quarter to four that afternoon. Presi- 
dent Pearse formally surrendered to the British in Tom 
Clarke's tobacco store in Parnell Street. He wrote and 
signed the document of the surrender, which was also signed 
by Connolly and MacDonagh. The document follows: 

In order to prevent the further slaughter of unarmed people, and 
in the hope of saving the lives of our followers, now surrounded and 
hopelessly outnumbered. Members of the Provisional Committee 
present at Headquarters have agreed to an unconditional surrender, 
and the Commanders of all units of the Republicans Forces will 
order their followers to lay down their arms. 

(Signed) P. H. Pearse 
29th April, 1916, 3.45 p.m. 

I agree to these conditions for the men only under my own com- 
mand in the Moore Street District and for the men in the St. 
Stephen's Green Command. 

James Connolly, 

April 29/16. 

There are one or two points in the statement signed by 
President Pearse that should not be overlooked. He gives 
as one of his reasons for his surrender the desire to prevent 
the further slaughter of unarmed people. It has been as- 
sumed in some quarters that this referred to the fact that 
many of the men who were fighting with him were inade- 
quately armed. While it was true that arms were not 
plentiful, this assumption is incorrect. What President 
Pearse referred to were the atrocities that were taking place 
all over the city, men and women, boys and girls, being 
shot by the military without any provocation. It is not in 
the least likely that President Pearse would refer to the 
Volunteers as "unarmed people." If further proof is needed, 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 395 

it is furnished by the fact that he proceeds to mention his 
own followers, "now surrounded and hopelessly outnumbered." 

There was one last scene at this point that will long be 
remembered. Just before the surrender, Tom Clarke made 
a last stand in the Rotunda Gardens at the head of O'Con- 
nell Street, with a number of his men. He knew that the 
surrender was a matter of minutes, and yet, having fought 
his way through the cordon to this point, refused to throw 
down his arms while the fight was still on. The English 
seemed to fear the grand old veteran, and, while he and his 
men were fired on from scores of points, they seemed to 
bear charmed lives. Then came the surrender, and Tom 
and his men, game to the last, laid down their arms. 

Immediately they were surrounded by the victorious 
English troops, who spared no taunt and no insult to their 
defeated enemy. When Clarke was disarmed and helpless 
in their power, they vented in full their spite on him, and 
manhandled him in so outrageous a manner that their own 
officers were forced to interfere. Thus was the gallantry 
of Tommy Atkins once more illustrated. During all that 
afternoon and through the long hours of the night the Irish 
prisoners were held in the Rotunda Gardens, soaked by the 
heavy dew, weary, sleepless, and hungry, and even a drink of 
water was refused them. 

The surrender of President Pearse and his command vir- 
tually brought the Rebellion to an end, but there were several 
other sections that did not accept, or did not hear the news 
of, the surrender on Saturday. Some little time after the 
first surrender, Thomas MacDonagh added his name to the 
document in the following manner: 

April 29th, 1916. 
On consultation with Commandant Ceannt and other oflScers, I 
have decided to agree to unconditional surrender also. 

Thomas MacDonagh. 

The Republicans in the Stephen's Green section surrendered 
also on Saturday, but the Countess Markievicz, who was 



396 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

in command of the Royal College of Surgeons, continued 
the fight until Simday. On that day, at two o'clock in 
the afternoon, Major Wheeler, accompanied by a force of 
military, went to the College by appointment and was re- 
ceived by the Countess. She was, it is reported, still wear- 
ing top boots, breeches, service tunic, and a Fianna hat. In 
the presence of the military she first shook hands with her 
own officers, and then produced her revolver, which was 
inclosed in a case. After affectionately kissing the weapon, 
she handed it to Major Wheeler, together with a quantity 
of ammunition. The prisoners taken at this place num- 
bered less than one hundred, and included a number of girls. 
Practically all of the others were members of the Fianna. 

The men at Jacob's Factory also surrendered on Sunday. 
It was a member of the Carmelite Order from Whitefriar 
Street church who induced the men here to yield. He was 
hoisted into the building by means of a rope let down from 
one of the lower windows, and on Sunday night the garri- 
son, leaving their flag flying, marched out in military forma- 
tion and surrendered. The surrender in the South Dublin 
Union was also made on Sunday, after Commandant Ceannt 
had held a conference with his men, as related later. The 
Republicans at the Four Courts surrendered on Saturday. 

There was, however, fight still left in the rebels, even after 
the surrender of the leaders. There were many who stated 
that they would never surrender, and these kept the battle 
going in many districts until the middle of the following 
week. This was particularly the case in the Ringsend dis- 
trict. De Valera, who was in command at Roland's Mills, 
surrendered on Sunday, but many of his men refused to do 
so, and kept up the fight along the railroad line until they 
were either killed or were able to make their escape. De 
Valera surrendered against the wishes of his own men, and 
did so only because he thought that there was a chance of 
saving their fives. That De Valera did not think there was 
any hope for his own life is shown by the statement he made 
after his surrender. According to the account printed in the 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 397 

Tory Irish Times, De Valera, after he had surrendered, 
turned to the British officers and said: "Shoot me if you 
will, but arrange for my men." The account continues: 
"Then he added, walking up and down: 'If only the people 
had come out with knives and forks!'" 

In the same paper are given some particulars relating to 
the conditions during the week in the suburban districts 
of the city. The people in Phibsboro were kept within 
the cordon, while the people in Glasnevin were rigidly ex- 
cluded, and only on the most urgent business could per- 
mission be obtained to pass. Nevertheless, many of the 
rebel scouts from the northern part of the county, and par- 
ticularly girl scouts, managed to get through the cordon 
and even into the Post Office itself. On Thursday it became 
apparent that something approaching a food famine was 
imminent. The alarm, we read, was instantaneous. Im- 
mediately the provision shops in the district were besieged, 
and the flour mills at the Cross Guns Bridge were crowded 
by people anxious to secure a supply for their families. The 
report in The Irish Times says: 

The butcher shops were soon cleared, and the provision stores 
were sold out by Saturday. Many people went out to the Finglass 
Village, where the local butchers did a tremendous trade. While 
the food crisis was in progress, the anxiety of the residents of this 
district was increased by the alarming rumors which were in con- 
stant circulation as to alleged happenings in the city. The rumors, 
needless to say, became more alarming as they were passed from one 
group to another, and all of the time there was nothing official, 
nothing definite. As night fell the anxiety was not eased. The 
constant sniping, the occasional big-gun firing, and the sky lit up 
by the reflection from some big building, all combined to make the 
night more terrible even than the day. Many pathetic sights were 
witnessed in connection with funerals going to Glasnevin Cemetery. 
Owing to the rigid regulations in force, only the driver of the hearse 
and at most one mourner was allowed to accompany the remains. 
But many were driven through the military cordon accompanied 
only by the driver of the hearse. These regulations were relaxed 
with the utmost speed by the miUtary. Up to Wednesday, May 



398 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

3d, the residents found it a matter of difficulty to obtain permits 
from the mihtary station at Cross Guns Bridge, and business people 
were subjected to long delays before they could resume duty in the 
city. 

The district from the Cross Guns Bridge was not taken 
possession of by the Republicans, but the district leading 
east towards Drumcondra along the Whitworth Road and to 
Mount] oy Square was occupied at several points. Long 
after the general surrender on Saturday the sniping in this 
district kept the military restless. Dorset Street and neigh- 
boring streets were in a very disturbed state, and the snip- 
ing continued in spite of the fact that the military carried 
out a most painstaking search in every house in the 
district. 

There were also lively engagements in Fairview. On 
Easter Monday evening the Republicans took possession of 
Bally bough Bridge and the houses around. A large num- 
ber of automobiles were also seized. The same tactics were 
carried out at Annesley Bridge. On Wharf Road, the Re- 
publicans took possession of houses at Fairview Corner at 
Phibsboro Avenue. The whole of the Fairview district 
was in the possession of the Republicans until Wednesday 
or Thursday, when, after a stubborn battle with the mili- 
tary, they were driven by machine-gun fire from some of 
the positions they held. They still held on, however, to a 
great many points of vantage, and the battle was still rag- 
ing on Saturday, when the general surrender was made. In 
spite of the active part they had taken in the fighting, 
many of the Republicans managed to escape on Saturday 
evening, and successfully eluded the search parties of the 
military. 

By the end of the following week the Rebellion of 1916 
was at an end. Dublin was in ruins, so far as the center of 
the city was concerned, and an orgy of bloodthirsty revenge 
had already commenced. Search parties were dispatched 
all over the city, arrests were being made by the thousands, 
men and women were being deported to prisons in England 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 399 

and Scotland, and the full rigors of martial law were being 
enforced. Of those who took an actual part in the fighting, 
there were many who made their escape to America, and 
it is from the stories told by these men that the major por- 
tion of the details of the actual fighting have been secured. 



CHAPTER LX 

A Dublin Rebel's Story 

THE man who told the following story used simple 
and direct language, devoid of all embellishments. 
He fought throughout the week in the South Dublin 
Union under the command of Eamonn Ceannt. He told of 
the weeks of waiting and anxiety that the Dublin Volun- 
teers endured, and the disappointment that was everywhere 
expressed when the countermanding order was issued, calling 
off the "maneuvers" on Easter Sunday. He told also 
of the conferences at Liberty Hall, and the rumors that 
were being circulated regarding their outcome. At nine 
o'clock on Easter Monday morning he received the call to 
report to his command, and, knowing well what that call 
meant, he immediately canceled all other appointments 
that he had for the day and repaired to the place of meeting. 
This is his story as told to the writer: 

We occupied the South Dublin Union at 11: 45 on Easter Monday 
morning. Within an hour of the time that we took possession of 
the buildings, we were attacked by the military, some of whom came 
from Richmond Barracks and others from the Royal Hospital. The 
fighting with these took place in the rear of the premises. During 
the rest of the week there were a number of bloody engagements, 
but, in spite of all that the military were able to do, we held all of 
our positions up to the time of the surrender. 

The fighting was very stiff during the Monday. There was a 
general engagement proceeding throughout the entire day and well 
into the evening. When night fell, however, we were forced to draw 
in our lines owing to the vastly greater number of the enemy and 
the fact that the darkness made it the more difficult to defend an 
extended line. Our only casualty during the day's fighting was 
the death of Jack Owens. There were, however, a large number of the 



THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 401 

British killed, and Commandant Ceannt sent a messenger to the 
enemy asking that a truce be declared in order that the military 
might take away their dead. To this the reply came back that 
there would be no truce, owing to the fact that we had killed their 
major. We had about fifty men in the Union, and the attacking 
force usually ranged from 500 to 800. We were never quite certain 
as to their numbers, owing to the fact that the companies attacking 
us were changed frequently during the week. 

After we had beaten the military off on the Monday night, there 
was a cessation of the harder part of the fighting. On Tuesday 
there w^as little more than sniping engagements, in which it seemed 
as though our men had the advantage. We lost no men on that 
day, while we were confident that several of the military were either 
killed or wounded. The same thing happened on the Wednesday, 
only on this occasion we lost poor Frank Burke, who was killed by 
a sniper, while standing near a window. 

The biggest fight of the whole week took place on the Thursday. 
It was evident that the military were determined to capture the 
position, and they prepared for the attack by a perfect fusillade of 
rifle shots poured against every window by the military at Richmond 
Barracks. The British attacked in a line from the canal basin, the 
first rush taking place shortly after three o'clock in the afternoon. 
In spite of the fact that a storm of lead was being directed against 
the windows, many of our men worked at these points, throwing 
hand grenades at the approaching enemy. It is a positive fact that 
not one of these men were injured, while they were able to work 
havoc in the ranks of the enemy. This disposed of the first attack. 

The English, however, were not to be beaten off at the first re- 
pulse. In spite of the fact that they had suffered severely, they 
returned to the attack, and this time they were able to penetrate 
into the building. They did this in a manner that is worthy of 
being mentioned in detail. 

Evidently thinking it impossible to get into the building in the 
ordinary manner, owing to the way in which every door and window 
was guarded, they resolved to secure entrance in another way. 
After some fierce fighting they succeeded in getting ensconced under 
a wall of one of the outer buildings, and here, working under a 
covering shower of lead from their comrades, they managed to bore 
a hole through the wall. When the breach was big enough the men 
who had made it stood to one side while the others behind them 



402 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

sent one volley of bullets after another into the breach. The mili- 
tary then charged. 

They might have succeeded in this maneuver had it not been for 
the fact that the men had been boring at a wrong part of the wall, 
with the result that when they did get through the breach they 
found themselves in an outer corridor instead of in the building 
proper. We held the upper part of the corridor while the British 
held the lower part, and it was at this point that some of the hot- 
test of the fighting was done. So hot was the fire that was poured 
down the corridor by the military that we had to retreat. During 
this retreat, in which we backed into another building connected by 
the corridor, one of our men, Cathal Bruga, a very fine fellow and a 
well-known Gaelic Leaguer, was badly wounded and fell to the 
ground. 

It must have been that the military were really scared of the 
rebels, for they called on us to surrender, but Cathal, in spite of 
the fact that he was badly wounded, called back "Never, never!" 
and then while he was lying in a pool of his own blood, we heard 
him singing "God Save Ireland." 

We were retreating into the other building at this time, and the 
bravery of the man so impressed us that, without waiting for any 
orders, we all dashed forward to where Cathal was lying. The 
sudden rush took the mihtary by complete surprise, and we forced 
them back in a hand-to-hand engagement in which fists were used 
as freely as rifles. But we were seeing red and they were not able 
to stand up to us, and we forced them so far back that we were 
able to take Cathal up on our shoulders and carry him into the 
kitchen. I may say here that he recovered from his wounds after- 
wards. 

The sudden attack and the manner in which they had crumpled 
up under it were such that the mihtary were wild with the shame of 
it. We could hear their officers cursing and swearing at them and 
forcing them to renew the attack. When they saw that we were 
caring more about Cathal, they took advantage of the opportunity 
and made another dash at us. By this time we had gained the 
shelter of the connecting building and we just poured lead into them 
for all we were worth. They were forced to halt in their charge, 
and the battle settled down to a rifle engagement. 

The fighting went on in this fashion until ten o'clock that night, 
when the military withdrew from the building. I believe that they 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 403 

were afraid to remain in it during the night, as they made certain 
that we would have attacked them, which is exactly what we were 
going to do. As things were, it was impossible for them to rush our 
position from where they were unless they were prepared to lose 
scores, if not hundreds, of men. During the day's fighting we had 
five men wounded. Not one of the rebels was killed. I do not 
know how the British suffered, but, at the lowest estimate, they 
must have lost at least one hundred men. They were the attackers, 
and had to come out into the open against good marksmen who were 
fighting from behind stone walls practically all of the time. 

There were two British soldiers who fell inside the building so 
badly wounded that their comrades were unable to take them away. 
They left, instead, one sohtary soldier to guard them, a man we 
could have captured without the slightest difficulty. However, we 
made no attempt to do this, and the fact evidently got on his nerves, 
for, after he had been holding his post for some time after his com- 
rades had withdrawn, he voluntarily offered to surrender. We told 
him that if we wanted to take him we could do so, but that he could 
rest assured that he would not be harmed, as we did not want either 
him or his company. 

All day on Friday there was continuous sniping on both sides. 
We were well content with the position in which we were. We had 
been able to beat off the stiff est of the British attacks, and we felt 
that we were reasonably secure. Throughout the entire day the 
military made no attempt to rush us out of the buildings. We had 
plenty of ammunition and plenty of good food, and there was noth- 
ing to worry us in the least. The military were wasting a great deal 
of good ammunition on the walls and windows. We had every en- 
trance to the place under strong guard, and there was httle or no 
chance of the enemy getting upon us without our knowledge. 

On Friday night we had a man guarding the breach that had been 
made in the wall. While he was on duty there, he heard movements 
that indicated the approach of the enemy. He did not have time 
to get back to the rest of our men, and he was afraid that if he 
sounded an alarm he would scare the British away, and, after being 
more or less inactive all day, this was the last thing that any of us 
desired. 

So he waited until the enemy came up to the breach. He heard 
the officer whispering to his men to get through the hole. Our man 
held his rifle over his head and waited. As the first man got through 



404 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

the rifle swung down on his head. The second man must have 
thought that his comrade had stumbled and fallen, for he came right 
on after him. By this time our man had had time to level his rifle, 
and the second man dropped with a bullet through his body. At 
that the rest drew back, for the officer in charge was heard swearing 
at them, urging them to go on into the building and then cursing 
them for cowards. The sound of the shot had aroused the rest of 
us, and we lost no time in getting to the scene of action. But when 
we arrived, the military were nowhere to be seen. Thus another 
attack had failed. 

There was nothing but sniping on the Saturday, it being evident 
that the British, in spite of the fact that they were greatly superior 
to us in numbers, had no relish to repeat the experiences of Thurs- 
day, A vigilant watch was kept all day and all night, but there was 
no attempt made to rush our positions. All of us were in the best 
of spirits, and were rapidly settling down to the situation like 
veterans. 

At noon on Sunday we heard of the surrender of the leaders. All 
of us were bitterly disappointed when we heard that they had sur- 
rendered, as there w^as not a man among us who would not have 
preferred to have fought it out to a finish. It was our belief that 
the best thing to do under the circumstances was to fight it out 
anyway, regardless of what had happened to the leaders of the Rebel- 
lion. We could have lasted for a month at the least. We were well 
supplied, and were in an excellent position, and I believe we would 
have made a long stand even if the military had brought artillery 
to their aid. The British who had attacked us during the week 
had a number of machine guns with them, and we were getting ac- 
customed to the conditions, and would have lasted for weeks, in 
spite of the fact that we did not have bayonets or machine guns. 
It was stated in some of the papers that we had a machine gun. 
This is not true. Eamonn Ceannt rigged up a dummy that looked 
so much like the real thing that the English did not dare to attempt 
an attack on the side of the buildings where it was placed. 

At three o'clock on the Sunday afternoon Commandant Ceannt 
ordered the men lined up. He then told us that Commandant Mac- 
Donagh had ordered surrender. He said that he would leave the 
decision to us, and that all he would do would be to ask that we 
acted as one in the matter. He said that, if we were to surrender 
as an army, we would stand a chance. This decided the majority 



I 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 405 

of the men. The leaders had surrendered and it was obviously im- 
possible for us to maintain a fight with any chance of success against 
the entire British garrison. It was, therefore, decided that we would 
surrender. 

Ceannt took off his hat. 

'T have no doubt as to what will happen to me," he said. "It 
was the will of Providence. If we did not succeed, there are better 
men who will." 



CHAPTER LXI 

Other Provincial Centers 

NOTHING could better illustrate the disastrous effect 
of Eoin MacNeill's countermanding order than the 
success which attended the various uprisings through- 
out the country, when the news was eventually received 
that Dublin was in rebellion. The few companies of Volun- 
teers to which the news did penetrate soon held complete 
control of the situation. What the result would have been 
had the original orders not been countermanded and the 
entire country had risen, is easy to imagine. 

A special messenger brought the word from Dublin to 
Gal way that the Republic had been declared. The Volun- 
teers immediately mobilized under Captain Mellows, a 
magnificent type of young Irishman. The mobilization 
took place at the Town Hall of Galway publicly, and in 
spite of the local police, who, terrified, remained hidden in 
their barracks. After the mobilization, the Volunteers, 
to the number of close on 1000, marched to the Model Farm, 
run by the miscalled Irish Board of Agriculture, where they 
halted, after taking possession of the farm. Here they re- 
mained for the night. 

On Wednesday morning they resumed their march to 
Loughrey, it being their intention, of course, to march to 
Dublin. They had a brief encounter with the police, the 
result being that some of the latter were wounded. On the 
afternoon of that day the Volunteers encamped at Moyode 
Castle, owned by the absentee Lady Ardilaun, a bitter 
opponent of Irish nationality. While they were there, a 
number of policemen were captured, and kept in confine- 
ment in the castle. The Volunteers remained in this place 
for the night. 



THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 407 

On Thursday morning a number of police from Athenry 
made an attempt to storm the castle, with the result that 
they were not only severely repulsed, but the entire force 
was chased by the Republicans all the way back to Athenry, 
a distance of four miles. The police were mounted on cycles, 
and rode for their lives. The rebels who took up the chase 
also had cycles, and were gaining on the police at every few 
yards. As it was, the police managed to fling themselves 
into their barracks only in the nick of time. 

In the meantime a British cruiser in Galway Bay was 
blazing away in the direction of the Republicans, but none 
of the shells came anywhere near them. On Friday morn- 
ing, just as the march was about to be resumed, word was 
received that Dublin was doomed, that the rest of the coun- 
try had not risen, and that a force of 2000 British soldiers, 
with machine guns and artillery, was only six miles away. 
The Republicans then marched to Lime Park, but on the 
way there another message was received to the effect that 
Dublin was in flames and that the rising was at an end. 
The Republicans thereupon agreed to disband. 

Let us now turn to what took place at Enniscorthy. The 
news that the Republic had been proclaimed in Dublin did 
not reach the County Wexford until the Thursday of Easter 
Week. Immediately on receipt of the message, the Volun- 
teers mobilized in the Athenseum, one of the principal build- 
ings of the town. The building was seized and utilized as 
Republican headquarters. All of the principal thorough- 
fares were guarded and patrolled, while forces were dispatched 
to guard the approaches to the town. About twenty auto- 
mobiles were commandeered, together with a supply of 
petrol. 

At a quarter-past six that evening arms and ammunition 
were served out to recruits for the rebel forces, and the 
Republican flag of green, white, and orange was hoisted 
at headquarters. A strong force of the Republicans pro- 
ceeded to the railroad station, and a train from Wexford to 
Arklow was held up and seized. The telegraph and tele- 



408 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

phone wires were then cut, and the railroad Unes at each 
end of the town were torn up, thus effectively cutting off 
all chance of a suprise attack on the part of the British. A 
proclamation was issued, stating that the Republic had 
been proclaimed in Dublin and calling for recruits. All 
the saloons were closed, and a volunteer force of police kept 
perfect control of the streets and the city generally. 

Shortly after seven o'clock an encounter took place be- 
tween the Republicans and the police, with the result that 
the latter suffered a complete defeat. The R. I. C. bar- 
racks, which had been barricaded by the police, was stormed 
and taken, the police being made prisoners. The police made 
a very poor defense, and were evidently suffering badly from 
nerves. During the attack a little girl of eight years, named 
Foley, was shot in the back by one of the policemen. With 
the capture of the barracks, Enniscorthy was completely 
in the possession of the Republicans. 

It having been decided that a number of the Republican 
soldiers should march on Dublin, while a small party re- 
mained to hold the town, supplies of all kinds were gathered 
in. A proclamation calling for the surrender of all arms 
was published, and in this way the supply of munitions at 
the disposal of the Volunteers was considerably augmented. 
In addition a house to house search was made, which pro- 
vided more rifles and revolvers. The local cycle stores 
were also visited, and cycles, tires, and automobile acces- 
sories were commandeered. 

Previous to these operations, and on the afternoon of 
Thursday, Enniscorthy Castle, which stands on an eminence 
commanding the town, was captured by the Republicans. 
The town was now in a thorough state of defense, and a 
large number of recruits were sworn in by the Republicans. 
Scouting parties of the Republicans were scouring the coun- 
try for miles around, and scores of young men returned with 
them to take up arms for their country. The streets were 
policed by the Republican forces, and perfect order pre- 
vailed. 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 409 

On Friday the preparations for the march to DubUn were 
nearly completed, twenty-four hours after the word had been 
given. The men remained in the city the following day, 
the orders being to start the march on Sunday morning. 
On Saturday a Volunteer force from Enniscorthy proceeded 
to Ferns by automobile and took possession of the police 
barracks there. Throughout the day there was great en- 
thusiasm, and by Sunday morning a large force, well equipped, 
was ready to proceed to the relief of Dublin. The men 
attended Mass in a body, and, shortly afterwards, as they 
were lining up for the march, news was brought into the 
town that Dublin had surrendered. A deputation, con- 
sisting of Father FitzHenry, Catholic Administrator, Canon 
Lyster, Protestant rector, and Chairman of the Urban Coun- 
cil, Patrick O'Neill, went to Wexford to interview the mili- 
tary. There the news of the surrender was confirmed, but 
the leaders in Enniscorthy still refused to believe it, and 
declined to give up possession of the town. Instead two of 
them went by automobile to Dublin, where they were taken 
to President Pearse. On their return to Enniscorthy, they 
yielded to the entreaties of the clergy to lay down their 
arms. 

It is thus evident that, had the countermanding order 
not been given, all the south of Leinster would have been 
in Irish hands. Joined by the men from Wexford and all 
the surrounding towns and villages, the Enniscorthy Volun- 
teers would have been knocking at the gates of Dublin by 
Wednesday evening. At the same time the men of the rest 
of the districts around the capital would also have been 
there, with the result that the British would have been placed 
in a hopeless position. Dublin would have been saved, and 
the rising would have been crowned with victory. 

The men in County Louth were also thrown into con- 
fusion by Eoin MacNeill's order. In County Dublin Thomas 
Ashe covered himself and his command with glory by defeat- 
ing, on Friday, April 28, 165 policemen at Ashborne, the 
Republican force amounting to only 43. Commandant 



410 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

Donal O'Hannigan, in command of the Louth Volunteers, 
was another whose plans were entirely disorganized by the 
countermanding order. As it was, he and his men remained 
in the field for over a week before disbanding. But the 
same story is to be told regarding these operations also — the 
Irish had complete command of the situation where they 
received President Pearse's second orders, but these were 
only in a few widely scattered districts and after the first 
golden opportunity had been lost. 

The same countermanding order created endless confusion 
in the City and County of Cork. Here the men were sick 
with suspense for several days, unable to get news from 
Dublin. When they did get the news it was too late, as 
they had, on the request of their clergy, given up their 
arms. Had they not done so, the same succession of events 
as took place in Enniscorthy might have been chronicled. 
There is still a great deal to be explained before the truth 
is known as to what actually did happen in Cork City. A 
number of statements have been issued, particularly by the 
clergy, but none of them make the matter absolutely clear. 

There was one incident of the Rebellion that took place 
in this district that will never be forgotten. The story is 
best told by a writer in The Catholic Bulletin of Dublin, 
in the issue dated August, 1916. It deals with Thomas 
Kent, who, as recorded later, was executed by the British 
for high treason in Cork on Tuesday morning. May 9. The 
article runs: 

Thomas Kent was born about fortj^-five years ago at Bawnard, 
Castlelyons, where his father, David Kent, held a large farm. His 
mother, Mary Rice, is sister of Very Rev. Canon Rice of Mitchels- 
town, and of Mr. Richard Rice, coroner, Fermoy. 

In the early morning of Tuesday (May 2), the house was sur- 
rounded by a force of constabulary, and a fierce conflict ensued, dur- 
ing which the police fired over a hundred shots, seriously wounding 
one of the brothers, David Kent. A head constable having been 
killed in the struggle, military assistance was sent for to Fermoy and 
on the arrival of a body of soldiers with a machine gun, about 7 p.m.. 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 411 

the whole family including the mother, aged over eighty, were 
ordered out of the besieged house, with their hands above their 
heads, and placed under arrest and an armed guard. Mother and 
sons were removed to Fermoy — David and Richard, badly wounded 
— to the military hospital, Tom, William and the mother to the 
barracks. 

Mrs. Kent, having been released about noon, Tom and William 
were next morning removed under strong military escort to Cork 
military prison, the former bootless and hatless. Tried by court- 
martial Tom was sentenced to death, and William acquitted, and the 
devoted brothers, who years before had dreamed dreams of Irish 
liberty under African skies, gazed on each other for the last time in 
the dark corridor of a Cork court. 

A few months later, in January, 1917, Mrs. Kent, the 
mother of these brave boys, died of the shock of these ter- 
rible events. 



CHAPTER LXII 

The Blood-lust of the English 

FROM the moment that they embarked on the Rebel- 
Uon, there was not one of the leaders who was not 
aware that failure would mean death at the hands of 
the English. The history of England has made it known 
to the world that such qualities as clemency and justice 
hold no place in its theory of Empire. It has ever been the 
principle of the rulers of England to mete out to the con- 
quered the severest punishment it is in their power to inflict; 
their gospel is the gospel of f rightfulness. Nevertheless, 
the acts of ruthless savagery that added one more bloody 
chapter to the story of English rule in Ireland were such 
that a wave of horror and indignation went around the 
world, and for all time blasted the hallow pretense that 
England was the lover of the liberties and the upholder of 
the rights of the small nations. 

The leaders of the Rebellion laid down their arms, and 
made an unconditional surrender when they were hopelessly 
outnumbered and surrounded. They had declared war in 
an open and legal manner; they had been at war with Great 
Britain for seven days, during which that war had been car- 
ried on between the two combatants in a manner in no way 
different from the conditions which prevailed in France and 
Flanders and along other lines in the war in Europe. There- 
fore, there can be no sincere reason for denying that these 
men who surrendered and placed themselves in the hands 
of the British were prisoners of war. 

The nation that had cried out in pious horror at the exe- 
cution of Edith Cavell, a proven spy, by the Germans, did 
not for a second hesitate to line up their prisoners of war 



THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 413 

behind barrack walls and shoot them down. The following 
order, issued by General Maxwell on May 11, is a sufficient 
condemnation of the acts of the English Government and 
an eloquent illustration of the kindly and humanitarian 
nature of the English system: 

In view of the gravity of the Rebellion and its connection with 
German intrigue and propaganda, and in view of the great loss of 
life and destruction of property resulting therefrom, the General 
Officer Commanding-in-Chief has found it imperative to inflict the 
most severe sentences on the known organizers of this detestable 
rising and on those commandants who took an active part in the 
actual fighting that occurred. It is hoped that these examples will 
be sufficient to act as a deterrent to intriguers, and to bring home 
to them that the murder of His Majesty's liege subjects, or other 
acts calculated to imperil the safety of the Realm, will not be 
tolerated. 

It has been stated that General Maxwell, when he received 
his orders from Lord Kitchener, was told to show no mercy 
to the Irish when he got them into his power. Whether 
this was the case or not, it is certain that Maxwell and the 
English Government did not fail to exact the fullest ven- 
geance on the Irishmen who fell into their hands after the 
surrender. It may also be stated, and on the best of 
authority, that most of the men executed were in a half- 
starved condition when lined up before the firing squad, and 
more than one was suffering the agonies of thirst. 

The following notice was officially communicated from the 
Command Headquarters, Parkgate, Dublin, on Wednesday, 
May 3: 

Three signatories of the notice proclaiming the Irish Republic, 
P. H. Pearse, 
T. MacDonagh, and 
T. J. Clarke, 

have been tried by Field General Courts-martial and sentenced to 
death. The sentence having been duly confirmed, the three above- 
mentioned men were shot this morning. 



414 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

Nothing could be more appealingly eloquent than the 
letter which President Pearse, a few hours before his exe- 
cution, penned to his mother. It is as follows: 

KiLMAINHAM PrISON, 

Dublin, May 3, 1916. 
My dearest Mother: 

I have been hoping up to now it would be possible to see you 
again, but it does not seem possible. Good-bye, dear, dear mother. 
Through you I say good-bye to "Wow Wow" [a sister], Mary, Brigid, 
Willie, Miss B., Miceal, cousin Maggine and everyone at St. Enda's. 
I hope and beheve Willie and the St. Enda boys will be all safe. 

I have written two papers about financial affairs and one about 
my books which I want you to get. With them are a few poems 
which I want added to the poems in MS. in my bookcase. You 
asked me to write a little poem which would seem to be said by 
you about me. I have written it, and a copy is in Arbor Hill Bar- 
rack with other papers. 

I just received Holy Communion. I am happy, except for the 
great grief of parting from you. This is the death I should have 
asked for if God had given me the choice of all deaths — to die a 
soldier's death for Ireland and for freedom. We have done right. 
People will say hard things of us now, but later on will praise us. 
Do not grieve for all this, but think of it as a sacrifice which God 
asked of me and of you. 

Good-bye again, dear mother. May God bless you for your great 

love for me and for your great faith, and may He remember all you 

have so bravely suffered. I hope soon to see papa, and in a little 

while we shall be all together again. I have not words to tell you of 

my love for you and how my heart yearns to you all. I will call to 

you in my heart at the last moment. ,^ t. 

•^ *^ Your son Pat. 

In reply to the request from his mother that he would 
write a poem for her, President Pearse sent to her the fol- 
lowing verses : 

Dear Mary, thou who saw thy first-born Son 
Go forth to die amidst the scorn of men, 
Receive my first-born son into thy arms 
Who also goeth forth to die for men; 
And keep him by thee till I come to him. 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 415 

Dear Mary, I have shared thy sorrows. 
And soon shall share thy joys. 

(Signed) P. H. P. 

The last letter of Thomas MacDonagh to his wife, written 
at midnight after hearing the sentence of death passed upon 
him, is also a document of unusual interest. It is as follows: 

KiLMAINHAM JaIL, 

Midnight, Tuesday. 

I, Thomas MacDonagh, having heard the sentence of court-martial 
held on me to-day, declare that in all my acts for which I have been 
arraigned I have been actuated by only one motive, the love of my 
country — the desire to make her a sovereign State. I still hope and 
trust that my acts may have for her some lasting freedom and happi- 
ness. I am to die at dawn (3: 30 a.m.), May 3. I am ready to die, 
and thank God that I died in so holy a cause. My country will 
reward my deed richly. 

On April 30 I was astonished to receive a message from P. H. 
Pearse, Commandant General of the Army of the Irish Republic, an 
order to surrender to the British General. I did not obey that 
order, as it came from a prisoner. I, as then in supreme command of 
the Irish army, consulted with my second in command, and decided 
to confirm this order. I knew that it would involve my death and 
the death of the other leaders. I hoped that it would save many 
true men among our followers — good lives for Ireland. God grant 
that it has done so, and God approve our deed. For myself I have 
no regret. The one bitterness this death has for me is the separa- 
tion it brings from you, my dear Muriel, and our beloved children, 
Donagh and Barbara. It breaks my heart to think that I shall 
never see my children again; but I have not wept or murmured. I 
counted the cost of this, and I am ready to pay it. Muriel has been 
sent for here. I do not know if she can come. She may have no 
one to take the children while she is coming — if she can come. 

I have insured my children for £100 each in the United Company; 
payment of the premiums to end at my death; the money to be 
paid to the children at twenty-one. I ask my brother, Joseph Mac- 
Donagh, and my good and constant friend, David Houston, to help 
my poor wife in those matters. 

My brother, John, who came with me and stood with me all last 
week, has been sent away from here. I do not know where to. God 



416 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

bless him and my other brothers and sisters. Assistance has been 
guaranteeti from tlie funds of the Cumami na mBari, and otlier 
funds to be cxilleottxl in America by our fellow-countrymen there, for 
the dependents of those who fall in the fight. My wife and I have 
given all for Ireland. I ask my friend, D. Houston, to see Mr. W. 
J. Lyons, the publisher of my latest book, "Literature in Ireland,'* 
and to see that its publication may be completeii for my wife and 
family. If Joseph Plunkett survives me, and is a free man, I make 
liim with my wife my hterary executor. Otherwise my wife and 
David Houston will take charge of my writings. 

Yesterday at my court-martial, in rebutting some trifling evidence, 
I made a statement as to my negotiations for surrender with General 
Lowe. In hearing it read, it struck me afterwards that it might 
sound like an appeal. I made no appeal, no recantation, no apology 
for my acts. In what I said I hereby claim to have acted honorably 
and thoroughly in all that I set myself to do. My enemies have 
treated me in an unworthy manner; but let it pass. It is a great 
and glorious thing to die for Ireland, and I will forget all petty an- 
noyances in the splendor of this. "When my son, Donagh, was born, 
I thought that to him, and not to me, would this be given. Grod has 
been kinder to me than I hoped. My son will have a great name, 
and you, my darhng httle boy, remember me. Kindly take my hope 
and pm-pose for my deed. For your sister and your beloved mother 
I could hope to live longer; but you will recognize this thing that 
I have done, and with tliis as a consequence will have done a great 
thing for Ireland, even with this defeat, and have won the first 
steps of her freedom. God bless you, my son, and my darling daugh- 
ter, Barbara. I loved j'ou more than ever child has been loved. 

My dearest Muriel, I thank you a thousand times for all you have 
been to me. I have only one trouble in leaving life — leaving you. 
Be sure, darling, God will assist you and bless you. I send you 
these few things I have saved out of this war for. you. My love — 
till we meet in Heaven. I have a sure faith in our union there. I 
kiss this paper as it goes to you. I have just heard that "they" 
have not been able to reach me. Perhaps it is better so — yet 
Father Aloysius is going to make another effort to reach you. 

God bless and sustain you, my love; but for your suffering t hi s 

would be our glorv and jov. , . i , i 

lour lo\'mg husband, 

Thoxl^s M^cDonagh 

P. S. — I return the darlings' photographs. 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 417 

The court-martial of MacDonagh lasted only fifteen min- 
utes. No message was sent to his wife, and he was not 
allowed to communicate either with her or his children. 
His sister, who was a nun in a convent close to the prison, 
was the only relative or friend allowed by the military to 
visit the condemned man. She was brought by the mili- 
tary to his little narrow cell, lighted only by a candle, and 
during the time that she was with him a sentry with loaded 
rifle was standing beside them. It was she who took his 
letter to his wife. 

His sister gave to Tom his mother's rosary beads, and he 
placed them around his neck. She then asked the sentry 
if her brother might have some water with which to wash 
himself, but this was refused. He went to his death as 
bravely as all who loved him knew he would go, whistling 
a few bars of a hymn as he went. Just as his sister re- 
turned to the convent, .she heard the volley of rifle shots 
that ended her brother's life. Between the time that she 
had left him a few short hours before, and the moment when 
he was led out to his death, Tom spent kneeling before his 
crucifix. 

The first intimation his widow had of his fate was the glaring 
announcemejits in the Dublin evening newspapers that day. 
She later received an order from General Maxwell, forbidding 
her to appear in public, owing to the sympathy of the people 
for her and her two little fatherless children. 

Tom Clarke, so far as is at present known, did not leave 
any letter behind him. There were many ugly rumors 
current for days after the surrender to the effect that he had 
been beaten to death by the military after they had him 
in their power in the barracks. The only document that 
survives him is the entry at the head of the list which he 
opened before the Rebellion, and which he called the "Irish 
Volunteers' Dependents' Fund." This entry, at the head of 
the sheet, reads: 

Thomas J. Clarke, for the reUef of distress: £3,100. 



418 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

This is, in itself, an enduring monument to the foresight and 
thoroughness which characterized every action of the man. 

The pubUc horror created by these executions was still 
at high tide, when, the following day, May 4, the announce- 
ment was made that Joseph Plunkett, Edward Daly, Michael 
O'Hanrahan, and William Pearse had been found guilty, 
sentenced to death, and shot that morning. 

Just before his death Michael O'Hanrahan, who was the 
Treasurer of the Volunteer Arms Fund, speaking to his sister, 
said: "I am ready to give my life for God and my country. 
In a few hours I shall be with my God, where I will plead the 
cause of my beloved Ireland and will ask God to bless mother 
and you." The last words he spoke to his sisters were: ''Re- 
member, girls, this is God's will, and it is for Ireland." 

When his mother went to see William Pearse shortly be- 
fore he w^as executed, hoping to hear that he had been re- 
prieved, she asked him: "Well, Willie, what did they say 
to you.''" He replied: "They asked me if I was guilty, 
and I said *y^s,* and that was all." 

The following day, Friday, May 5, Major McBride was 
shot. Before he died, he went to Confession and Holy Com- 
munion. He asked his jailers not to blindfold him when in 
front of the firing squad. This request was refused. Then 
Major McBride turned to Father Augustine, who was with 
him, and said: "Many's the time I have looked down their 
rifles." His last request was that his rosary beads should 
be given to a friend. 

It was thought that the orgy of murder had now ceased, but 
the horror which the executions had aroused throughout the 
world was intensified when it became known, on Monday, May 8, 
that four more of the Republican leaders had been done to death 
by the military. The following is the official communication: 

The following are further results of trials by Field Courts-martjal; 
Sentenced to death, and sentence carried out this morning: 

Cornelius Colbert, Edmund Kent, 

Michael Mallen, J. J. Heuston. 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 419 

In every record of the future which deals with the deeds 
of brave and gallant men the name of Michael Mallen will 
stand high amongst the highest. "The story of his death," 
writes the editor of The Catholic Bulletin, is as fascinating 
as a romance and as grand as an epic. He is said to have 
prayed into the very rifles of the men who shot him, and 
his last words were: 'Lord Jesus, receive my spirit."* Shortly 
before his execution, the patriot wrote to his wife as follows: 

But, oh, if only you and the httle ones were coming too, we could 
all reach Heaven together. ... If you can, I would like you to 
dedicate Una to the service of God, and also Joseph. . . . Do this 
if you can, and pray to Our Divine Lord that it may be so. 

See Alderman Tom Kelly. He is a good. God-fearing man, and 
will be able to help you, for my sake as well as for yours. . . . Mr. 
Partridge, too, was more than a brother to me. He held me close 
in his arms, so that I might have comfort and warmth. 

God and His Blessed Mother again and again bless and protect 
you. O Saviour of men, if my dear ones could enter Heaven with 
me, how blessed and happy I would be; they would be away from 
the cares and trials of the world. 

Una, my Httle one, be a nun. Joseph, my little man, be a priest 
if you can. James and John, to you the care of your mother. Make 
yourselves good, strong men for her sake, and remember Ireland. 

Good-bye, my wife, my darling. Remember me. God again bless 
and protect you and our children. I must now prepare. These last 
few hours must be spent with God alone. 

Thus another of God's good men was butchered to satisfy 
the thirst of the British for the blood of the men who had 
dared to stand up for the rights of a small nation. 

In his last message, written shortly before his death, J. J. 
Heuston wrote: "Whatever I have done, I have done as a 
soldier of Ireland in what I believe to be my country's best 
interests, and I have, thank God, no vain regrets. After all, 
it is better to be a corpse than a coward." 

Cornelius Colbert, also, shortly before he died, wrote his 
last message on a scrap of paper, as follows: "An la fuaricas 
bas ar son Eireann agus ar son De bhiomar bailigthe." 
("When I died for Ireland and for God, we had mobilized.") 



420 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

In connection with the death of Colbert, the British spread 
abroad a story to the effect that he had gone to his death 
joking with one of the soldiers who had to prepare him for 
execution. The priest who attended him up to the last 
moment wrote the following letter to The Evening Herald 
of Dublin, on June 1, in which he tells how Colbert died: 

Dear Sir — In last evening's issue of your paper, towards the end 
of the second news column of the front page, under the heading 
*'Last Moments of Volunteer Leader," it is stated that Mr. Cornelius 
Colbert "died joking the men who were preparing him for death." 
It is also asserted that, when one of the soldiers was fixing the white 
cloth on his breast, to indicate his heart, he told them "his heart 
was far away at the moment." 

This version is quite inaccurate and fanciful, and I owe it to his 
memory to give the true one. 

There was no joking, not even the semblance of it. Poor Colbert 
was far too beautiful and too reverent a character to joke with any- 
one in such a solemn hour. I know very well where his heart was 
then. It was very near to God and to the friends he loved. What 
really happened was this. While my left arm linked the prisoner's 
right, and while I was whispering sometliing in his ear, a soldier ap- 
proached to fit a bit of paper on his breast. While this was being 
done he looked down, and addressing the soldier in a perfectly cool 
and natural way said: "Wouldn't it be better to pin it up higher 
— nearer the heart.?" The soldier said something in reply, and then 
added: "Give me your hand now." The prisoner seemed confused 
and extended his left hand. "Not that," said the soldier, "but the 
right." The right was accordingly extended, and, having shaken it 
warmly, the kindly human-hearted soldier proceeded to gently bind 
the prisoner's hands behind his back, and afterwards blindfolded him. 

Some minutes later, my arm still linked in his, and accompanied 
by another priest, we entered the dark corridor leading to the yard 
and, his lips moving in prayer, the brave lad went forth to die. 

F. A. 

On Tuesday, May 9, it was announced that Thomas Kent, 
of Coole, near Fermoy, had been sentenced to death and that 
the sentence had been carried out that morning. This boy 
was thus done to death for the shooting of a policeman who 
had attacked him and whose death was due to an accident. 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 421 

The end of the ghastly Hst came to pubHc notice on May 
12, when the following communique was issued: 

The trial of two prominent leaders in the rebellion, whose names 
appeared in the proclamation issued by the so-called "Provisional 
Government," namely: 

James Connolly, and 
John MacDermott, 

took place on the 9th of May. 

Sentence of death was awarded in each case. These sentences 
were confirmed by the General Officer Commander-in-Chief on the 
9th May, and they were carried out this morning (May 12th). 

Of all the men who led in the Rebellion it is probable that 
Sean MacDermott was the most beloved. He loved Ireland, 
and he brought others to love her in like manner. A gentle, 
pure-souled patriot, his brutal murder was alike a loss to 
his country and to humanity. So ill that he had to be 
placed in a chair before being shot, he went to death with 
peace and happiness in his heart. The following are two 
letters he wrote just before his execution. The first is to his 
brothers and sisters: 

KiLMAINHAM PrISON, DuBLIN, 

May 11, 1916. 
My Dear Brothers and Sisters, 

I sincerely hope that this letter will not come as a surprise to any 
of you, and, above all, that none of you will worry over what I have 
to say. 

It is just a wee note to say that I have been tried by court-martial 
and sentenced to be shot — to die the death of a soldier. By the 
time this reaches you I will, with God's mercy, have joined in Heaven 
my poor father and mother, as well as my dear friends who have 
been shot during the week. They died like heroes, and with God's 
help I will act throughout as heroic as they did. I only wish you 
could see me now. 

I am just as calm and collected as if I were talking to you all or 
taking a walk to see Mick Wynne or some of the old friends and 
neighbors around home. I have priests with me almost constantly 
for the past twenty-four hours. One dear old friend of mine, Rev. 



422 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

Dr. Brown, Maynooth, stayed with me up to a very late hour last 
night. I feel a happiness the like of which I never experienced in 
my Hfe before, and a feehng that I could not describe. Surely, when 
you know my state of mind, none of you will worry or lament my 
fate. No, you ought to envy me. 

The cause for which I die has been rebaptized during the past 
week by the blood of as good men as ever trod God's earth, and 
should I not feel justly proud to be numbered amongst them? Be- 
fore God let me again assure you of how proud and happy I feel. 
It is not alone for myself so much I feel happy, but for the fact that 
Ireland has produced such men. 

Enough of the personal note. I had hoped, Pat, to be able to 
help you in placing the children in positions to earn their livelihood, 
but God will help you to provide for them. Tell them how I struck 
out for myself and counsel them to always practice truth, honesty, 
and straightforwardness in all things and sobriety. If they do this 
and remember their country, they will be all right. Insist on their 
learning the language and history. 

I have a lot of books and I am making arrangements with one of 
the priests to have them turned in to a library, but I can arrange 
that you get some of them for the children. You might like to get 
these clothes that I am wearing to have them in memory of me, so 
I will arrange, if possible, to have them sent to my old lodgings, 
and you ought to come there and take them and any other little 
things belonging to me that you'd like to have — of course for Dan 
and Maggie also. There are a few copies of a recent photo which 
you can take, and you might order more copies for friends, who may 
like to have one. 

Of course you got the letter I sent you a few days before Easter. 
By the way, when you are in Dublin find if I owe any money to my 
landlady, and if so pay her. I don't think I do, but at the moment 
I'm not certain. 

One word more about the children. Put some of them to learn 
trades if they can at all. You will see if they show any promise of 
mechanical or technical skill. They were too small when I saw them 
to advise. Tell Maggie she ought to try to get Mary Ann to go for 
teaching. I don't know what CatyBee ought to do. As for Dan, I 
suppose he will decide for himself, God direct him. He need not 
regret having stayed at home so long. 

Make a copy of this and send it to the others as soon as you can. 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 423 

A lot of my friends will want to hear about me from James, Rose 
and Kate. They can tell them all that in my last hours I am the 
same Sean they always knew, and that even now I can enjoy a 
laugh and a joke as good as ever. 

I don't know if you will require a pass to get to Dublin, but you'd 
better find out before you start. Perhaps martial law will have been 
withdrawn before you can come. It was passed for one month only, 
and I don't think it will be renewed. If I think of any other things 
to say I will tell them to Miss Ryan, she who in all probability, had 
I lived, would have been my wife. 

I will send instructions to my landlady, but she knows you, all right. 

Good-bye, dear brothers and sisters. Make no lament for me. 

Pray for my soul and feel a lasting pride at my death. I die that 

the Irish Nation may live. God bless and guard you all and may 

He have mercy on my soul. ,^ 

Yours as ever, 

Sean. 

P. S. — I find I have not mentioned Patrick or his mother, but 
they know they are included for old, very old, times' sake. Yes, 
long before there was a thought of Maggie marrying Patrick; also 
Bessie, Mary, and Will. I'd love to clasp the hand of each of you 
and many other dear friends, but I will meet you all soon in a better 
place. Remember me to all friends and give some money to Fathers 
Foy and McLaughlin for Mass for me. p, i i . 

Sean. 

Following this is the letter he wrote to a friend: 

KiLMAINHAM PrISON, 

Dublin, 11th May, 1916. 
My Dear John : 

Just a wee note to bid you good-bye. I expect in a few hours to 
join Tom, in a better world. I have been sentenced to a soldier s 
death, to be shot to-morrow morning. I have nothing to say about 
this, only that I look on it as a part of the day's work — to die that 
the Irish Nation may live. Our blood will rebaptize and reinvigo- 
rate the "Old Land." Knowing this, it is superfluous to say how 
happy I feel. I know now what I always felt, that the Irish Nation 
can never die. Let present-day place-hunters condemn our action as 
they will, posterity will judge us all right from the effects of our action. 



424 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

I know I will meet you soon. Until then good-bye. God guard 
and protect you all in No. 15. You have had a sore trial, but I 
know that you and Mrs. Daly and all the girls feel proud in spite of 
a little temporary and natural grief that her son, and the girls, their 
brother, as well as Tom, are included in the list of honors. 

Kindly remember me especially to Mrs. Clarke, and tell her I am 
the same Sean she always knew. God bless you all. 
As ever, 

Sincerely yours, 

Sean MacDiarmada. 

To Mr. John Daly, 15 Barrington Street, Limerick. 

No words can better depict the manner of the death of 
James Connolly than those of his brave and devoted daughter, 
Nora, who herself, as a member of the Cumann na mBan 
played an heroic part in the Rebellion. After encounter- 
ing innumerable difficulties, she succeeded in escaping from 
Ireland and reaching New York. She describes her father's 
last hours as follows: 

They took him on a stretcher from Dubhn Castle early Friday 
morning. May 12, because he couldn't walk on account of his wounds, 
and carried him to Kilmainham Jail, four miles away. 

They propped him in a chair because he couldn't stand, and then 
shot him dead. Then they took his body to the Arbor Hill Barracks, 
tlirew it into a common trench with the other dead patriots, and 
covered his body with quicklime. 

They refused to give up the body. They would not even permit 
us to provide a coffin. 

That was my father's end. 

The following is the statement made by Connolly at the 
court-martial : 

I do not wish to make any defense except against charges of 
wanton cruelty to prisoners. These triffing allegations that have 
been made, if they record facts that really happened, deal only with 
the almost unavoidable incidents of a hurried uprising against long- 
established authority, and nowhere show evidence of set purpose 
wantonly to injure unarmed persons. 

We went out to break the connection between this country and 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 425 

the British Empire and to estabhsh an Irish Repubhc. We beHeve 
that the call we then issued to the people of Ireland was a nobler 
call in a holier cause than any call issued to them during this war 
having any connection with the war. 

We succeeded in proving that Irishmen are ready to die endeavor- 
ing to win for Ireland those national rights which the British Govern- 
ment has been asking them to die to win for Belgium. As long as 
that remains the case the cause of Irish freedom is safe. 

Believing that the British Government has no right in Ireland, 
never had any right in Ireland, and never can have any right in 
Ireland, the presence in any one generation of Irishmen of even a 
respectable minority, ready to die to affirm that truth, makes that 
Government forever an usurpation and a crime against human 
progress. 

I personally thank God that I have lived to see the day when 
thousands of Irish men and boys, and hundreds of Irish women and 
girls, were ready to affirm that truth and to attest it with their lives 
if need be. 

(Signed) James Connolly. 
Commandant General Dublin Division^ Army of 
the Irish Republic. 

Shortly after the news was received of the shooting of 
President Pearse, MacDonagh, and Clarke, a statement, made 
on first-hand authority, appeared in the Irish press of Amer- 
ica to the effect that the Redmondites, in the British House 
of Commons, cheered the announcement of the execution of 
these men. At the present time it is impossible to obtain 
absolute verification of this statement. Therefore it is given 
here just as it appeared originally in The Gcelic American: 

We have been informed by a most reliable authority that, when 
Asquith announced the murder by court-martial, of Padraic H. Pearse, 
Thomas J. Clarke, and Thomas MacDonagh, the first three rebel 
leaders to be shot, all the members of the Irish Parliamentary Party 
who were present in the House of Commons stood up and cheered. 
Our informant was told this by a Member of Parliament who was 
present at the time and who is a truthful man. All the Irish 
papers, "Nationalist" and Tory alike, suppressed the news, but all 
Ireland knows it just the same. 



CHAPTER LXIII 

How Casement Died 

THE thirst for blood of the British was not appeased 
by the lives that had already been taken. In the 
face of the opinion of the world, they had determined 
to take vengeance on Roger Casement, even though they 
knew that he had striven to prevent the Rebellion and had, 
in fact, been the immediate cause of MacNeill's counter- 
manding order to the Volunteers. 

After lying for weeks in a London jail, Casement was 
brought to trial at the Royal Courts of Justice, London, on 
June 26. His prosecutor was the Attorney-General, Sir F. E. 
Smith, one of the men who had been most prominently iden- 
tified with the organization of the Carson Volunteers. Evi- 
dence was given of Casement's arrest in Ireland after his 
landing from the German submarine, and of the propaganda 
he had carried on amongst the Irish prisoners of war in 
Germany with the intention of forming them into an Irish 
brigade to join the Irish Volunteers. Most of this evidence 
was given by a man named Daniel Julian Bailey, formerly a 
soldier in the English army, who had joined Casement's 
Irish Brigade. This man went to Ireland with Casement in 
the submarine, and, on his arrest, turned King's evidence 
against Casement. 

Casement was tried under a statute of Edward III. It 
was obvious from the first that the result of the trial was a 
foregone conclusion, but his counsel, including Mr. Francis 
Doyle of America, made a determined fight for the prisoner. 
The main plea in favor of the prisoner was that he was being 
illegally tried under the statute, as his offense, if any, was 
not committed within the realm of England, as charged in 
the bill of accusation. 



THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 427 

When the jury had returned a verdict of guilty, Casement 
was asked if he had anything to say as to why sentence of 
death should not be passed upon him. His speech from the 
dock will forever rank with Emmet's as a most eloquent 
statement of Ireland's case as against England. Various in- 
complete and inaccurate versions have been published. The 
following is the full speech, as it was delivered by Roger 
Casement, at the conclusion of the trial, on Thursday, 
June 29: 

My Lord Chief Justice, as I wish my words to reach a much wider 
audience than I see before me here, I intend to read all that I pro- 
pose to say. What I shall read now, is something I wrote more than 
twenty days ago. 

There is an objection, possibly not good in law, but surely good 
on moral grounds, against the application to me here of this old 
English statute, 505 years old, that seeks to deprive an Irishman 
to-day of Hfe and honor, not for "adhering to the King's enemies," 
but for adhering to his own people. 

When this statute was passed in 1351, what was the state of men's 
minds on the question of a far higher allegiance — that of man to 
God and His Kingdom.? The law of that day did not permit a 
man to forsake his Church or deny his God save with his life. The 
** heretic" then had the same doom as the "traitor." To-day a 
man may forswear God and His heavenly realm without fear or 
penalty, all earlier statutes having gone the way of Nero's edicts 
against the Christians; but that Constitutional phantom, "The 
King," can still dig up from the dungeons and torture chambers of 
the Dark Ages a law that takes a man's hfe and hmb for an exercise 
of conscience. 

If true religion rests on love, it is equally true that loyalty rests 
on love. The law I am charged under has no parentage in love, and 
claims the allegiance of to-day on the ignorance and blindness of 
the past. I am being tried in truth not by my peers of the live 
present, but by the fears of the dead past; not by the civilization 
of the twentieth century, but by the brutahty of the fourteenth; 
not even by a statute framed in the language of the land that 
tries me, but emitted in the language of an enemy land — so anti- 
quated is the law that must be sought to-day to slay an Irishman 
whose offense is that he puts Ireland first! 



428 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

Loyalty is a sentiment, not a law. It rests on love, not on re- 
straint. The government of Ireland by England rests on restraint 
and not on law; and since it demands no love, it can evoke no 
loyalty. 

But this statute is more absurd than it is antiquated; and if 
it be potent to hang one Irishman, it is still more potent to gibbet 
all Englishmen. Edward III was king not only of the Realm of 
England, but also of the Realm of France, and he was not king 
of Ireland. Yet his dead hand to-day may pull the noose around 
the Irishman's neck, whose Sovereign he was not, but it can strain 
no strand around the Frenchman's throat, whose sovereign he was. 
For centuries the successors of Edward III claimed to be kings of 
France, and quartered the arms of France upon their royal shield 
down to the Union with Ireland on January 1, 1801. Throughout 
these hundreds of years these "Kings of France" were constantly 
at war with their realm of France and their French subjects, who 
should have gone from birth to death with an obvious fear of trea- 
son before their eyes. But did they.^ Did the "Kings of France," 
resident here at Windsor, or in the Tower of London, hang, draw, and 
quarter as a traitor every Frenchman for 400 years who fell into 
their power with arms in their hands? On the contrary, they re- 
ceived Embassies of these traitors, presents from these traitors, even 
knighthood itself at the hands of these traitors, feasted with them, 
tilted with them, fought with them — but did not assassinate them 
by law. 

Judicial assassination to-day is reserved only for one race of the 
King's subjects — for Irishmen, for those who cannot forget their 
allegiance to the Realm of Ireland. The IGngs of England, as such, 
had no rights in Ireland up to the time of Henry VIII, save such 
as rested on compact and mutual obligation entered into between 
them and certain princes, chiefs, and lords of Ireland. This form of 
legal right, such as it was, gave no King of England lawful power 
to impeach an Irishman for high treason under this statute of King 
Edward HI of England until an Irish Act, known as Poyning's Law, 
the tenth of Henry VII, was passed in 1494, at Drogheda, by the 
Parhament of the Pale in Ireland and enacted as law in that part 
of Ireland. But, if by Poyning's Law an Irishman of the Pale could 
be indicted for high treason under this Act, he could be indicted 
only in one way and before one tribunal — by the laws of the Realm 
of Ireland and in Ireland. The very law of PojTiing, which, I be- 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 429 

lieve, applies this statute of Edward III to Ireland, enacted also for 
the Irishman's defense "all those laws by which England claims her 
liberty." 

And what is the fundamental charter of an Englishman's liberty? 
That he shall be tried by his peers. With all respect, I assert this 
Court is to me, an Irishman, charged with this offense, a foreign 
Court — this jury is for me, an Irishman, not a jury of my peers to 
try me in this vital issue, for it is patent to every man of conscience 
that I have a right, an indefeasible right, if tried at all under this 
statute of high treason, to be tried in Ireland, before an Irish Court 
and by an Irish jury. This Court, this jury, the public opinion of 
this country, England, cannot but be prejudiced in varying degrees 
against me, most of all in time of war. I did not land in England. 
I landed in Ireland. It was to Ireland I came; to Ireland I wanted 
to come, and the last place I desired to land was in England. 

But for the Attorney-General of England there is only "England" 
— there is no Ireland, there is only the law of England — no right 
of Ireland; the liberty of Ireland and of Irishmen is to be judged by 
the power of England. Yet for me, the Irish outlaw, there is a land 
of Ireland, a right of Ireland, and a charter for all Irishmen to appeal 
to, in the last resort, a charter that even the very statutes of Eng- 
land itself cannot deprive us of, nay more, a charter that English- 
men themselves assert as the fundamental bond of law that connects 
the two kingdoms. This charge of high treason involves a moral 
responsibility, as the very terms of the indictment against myself 
recite, inasmuch as I committed the acts I am charged with to the 
"evil example of others in the like case." What was the evil ex- 
ample I set to others in the like, case, and who were these others .^^ 
The evil example charge is that I asserted the rights of my own 
country, and the "others" I appealed to, to aid my endeavor, were 
my own countrymen. The example was given not to Englishmen, 
but to Irishmen, and the "like case" can never arise in England, but 
only in Ireland. To Englishmen I set no evil example, for I made 
no appeal to them. I asked no Englishmen to help me. I asked 
Irishmen to fight for their rights. The "evil example" was only to 
other Irishmen who might come after me and in "like case" seek 
to do as I did. How, then, since neither my example nor my appeal 
was addressed to Englishmen, can I be rightfully tried by them.f^ 

If I did wrong in making that appeal to Irishmen to join with me 
in an effort to fight for Ireland, it is by Irishmen and by them alone 



430 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

I can be rightfully judged. From this Court and its jurisdiction I 
appeal to those I am alleged to have wronged, and to those I am 
alleged to have injured by my "evil example," and claim that they 
alone are competent to decide my guilt or my innocence. If they 
find me guilty, the statute may aflax the penalty, but the statute 
does not override or annul my right to seek judgment at their hands. 
This is so fundamental a right, so natural a right, so obvious a right, 
that it is clear the Crown were aware of it when they brought me 
by force and by stealth from Ireland to this country. It was not 
I who landed in England, but the Crown who dragged me here, 
away from my own country to which I had returned with a price 
upon my head, away from my own countrymen whose loyalty is not 
in doubt, and safe from the judgment of my peers whose judgment 
I do not shrink from. I admit no other judgment but theirs. I 
accept no verdict save at their hands. 

I assert from this dock that I am being tried here not because it 
is just, but because it is unjust. Place me before a jury of my 
own countrymen, be it Protestant or Catholic, Unionist or National- 
ist, Sinn Feineach or Orangeman, and I shall accept the verdict and 
bow to the statute and all its penalties. But I shall accept no 
meaner finding against me than that of those whose loyalty I en- 
dangered by my example and to whom alone I appeal. If they ad- 
judge me guilty, then guilty I am. It is not I who am afraid of 
their verdict — it is the Crown. If this is not so, why fear the test.^^ 
I fear it not. I demand it as my right. 

That is the condemnation of English rule, of English-made law, 
of English Government in Ireland, that it dare not rest on the will 
of the Irish people, but exists in defiance of their will — that it is a 
rule derived not from right, but from conquest. 

Conquest, my lord, gives no title; and, if it exists over the body, 
it fails over the mind. It can exert no empire over men's reason and 
judgment and affections; and it is from this law of conquest with- 
out title, to the reason, judgment, and affection of my own country- 
men that I appeal. 

I would add, the generous expressions of sympathy extended to 
me from so many quarters, particularly from America, have touched 
me very much. In that country, as in my own, I am sure my 
motives are understood, for the achievement of their liberties has 
been an abiding inspiration to Irishmen and to all elsewhere rightly 
struggling to be free. 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 431 

My Lord Chief Justice, I am not called upon, I conceive, to say 
anything in answer to the inquiry your lordship has addressed to 
me why sentence should not be passed upon me. Since I do not 
admit any verdict in this Court, I cannot, my Lord, admit the fit- 
ness of the sentence that of necessity must follow it from this Court. 
I hope I shall be acquitted of presumption if I say that the Court 
I see before me now is not this High Court of Justice of England 
but a far greater, a far older assembly of justices — that of the 
people of Ireland. Since in the acts which have led to this trial it 
was the people of Ireland I sought to serve and them alone — I 
leave my judgment and my sentence in their hands. 

Let me pass from myself and my own fate to a far more pressing 
as it is far more urgent theme — not the fate of the individual Irish- 
man who may have tried and failed, but the claims and the fate of 
the country that has not failed. Ireland has seen her sons — aye, 
and her daughters, too — suffer from generation to generation always 
for the same cause, meeting always the same fate, and always at 
the hands of the same power; and always a fresh generation has 
passed on to withstand the same oppression. For if English au- 
thority be omnipotent — a power, as Mr. Gladstone phrased it, 
that reaches to the very ends of the earth — Irish hope exceeds the 
dimensions of that power, excels its authority, and renews with each 
generation the claims of the last. The cause that begets this in- 
domitable persistency, the faculty of preserving through generations 
of misery the remembrance of lost liberty, this, surely, is the noblest 
cause ever strove for, ever lived for, ever died for. If this be the 
case I stand here to-day indicted for and convicted of sustaining, 
then I stand in a goodly company and a right noble succession. 

My counsel has referred to the Ulster Volunteer movement, and 
I will not touch at length upon that ground, save only to say this, 
that neither I nor any of the leaders of the Irish Volunteers, who 
were formed in Dublin in November, 1913, had any quarrel with 
the Ulster Volunteers as such, who were born a year earlier. Our 
movement was not directed against them, but against the men who 
misused and misdirected the courage, the sincerity, and the local 
patriotism of the men of the north of Ireland. The manifesto of the 
Irish Volunteers, promulgated at a public meeting in Dublin on 
November 25, 1913, stated with sincerity the aims of the organiza- 
tion as I have outlined them. 

Since arms were so necessary to make our organization a reality 



432 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

and to give to the minds of Irishmen menaced with the most out- 
rageous threats a sense of security, it was our bounden duty to 
get arms before all else. I decided, with this end in view, to go to 
America, with surely a better right to appeal to Irishmen there for 
help in an hour of great national trial than those envoys of "Em- 
pire" could assert for their week-end descents upon Ireland, or 
their appeals to Germany. 

If, as the right honorable gentleman, the present Attorney-General, 
asserted in a speech at Manchester, Nationalists would neither fight 
for Home Rule nor pay for it, it was our duty to show him that we 
knew how to do both. Within a few weeks of my arrival in the 
States the fund that had been opened to secure arms for the Volun- 
teers of Ireland amounted to many thousands of pounds. In every 
case the money subscribed, whether it came from the purse of the 
wealthy man or the still readier pocket of the poor man, was Irish 
gold. 

Then came the war. As Mr. Birrell said in his evidence laid be- 
fore the Commission of Inquiry into the causes of the late rebellion 
in Ireland, "the war upset all our calculations." It upset mine no 
less than Mr. Birrell's, and put an end to my mission of peaceful 
effort in America. War between Great Britain and Germany meant, 
as I believed, ruin for all the hopes we had founded on the enrol- 
ment of the Irish Volunteers. A constitutional movement in Ire- 
land is never very far from a breach of the Constitution, as the 
loj^alists of Ulster had been so eager to show us. 

The difference between us was that the Ulster champions chose a 
path they felt would lead to the Woolsack, while I went a road I 
knew must lead to the dock. And the event proves we were both 
right. The difference between us was that my "treason" was based 
on a ruthless sincerity that forced me to attempt in time and season 
to carry out in action what I said in words — whereas their treason 
lay in verbal incitements that they knew need never be made good 
in their bodies. And so, I am prouder to stand here to-day in the 
traitor's dock to answer this impeachment than to fill the place of 
my right honorable accusers. 

We have been told, we have been asked to hope, that after this 
war Ireland will get Home Rule as a reward for the life-blood shed 
in a cause which, whoever else its success may benefit, can surely not 
benefit Ireland. And what will Home Rale be in return for what its 
vague promise has taken, and still hopes to take, away from Ireland? 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 433 

Home Rule, when it comes, if come it does, will find an Ireland 
drained of all that is vital to its very existence, unless it be that un- 
quenchable hope we build on the graves of the dead. We are told 
that if Irishmen go by the thousand to die not for Ireland, but for 
Flanders, for Belgium, for a patch of sand on the deserts of Meso- 
potamia, or a rocky trench on the heights of Gallipoh, they are 
winning self-government for Ireland. But if they dare to lay down 
their lives on their native soil, if they dare to dream even that 
freedom can be won at home by men resolved to fight for it there, 
then they are traitors to their country, and their dream and their 
deaths alike are phases of a dishonorable fantasy. 

But history is not so recorded in other lands. In Ireland alone 
in the twentieth century is loyalty held to be a crime. If loyalty 
be something less than love and more than law, then we have had 
enough of such loyalty for Ireland or Irishmen. Where all your 
rights become only an accumulated wrong; where men must beg 
with bated breath for leave to subsist in their own land, to think 
their own thoughts, to sing their own songs, to garner the fruit of 
their own labors — and even while they beg, to see these things 
inexorably withdrawn from them — then surely it is a braver, a 
saner, and a truer thing to be a rebel in act and deed against such 
circumstances as this than tamely to accept it as the natural lot of 
man. 

Sentence of death by hanging was thereupon passed on 
the prisoner and this was duly carried out on August 3, 
1916, at Pentonville Prison. At the moment of the death 
of the patriot the crowd of Britishers who had assembled 
outside the jail gave vent to their feelings by booing and 
jeering. The following is the cabled account of the execu- 
tion, passed by the British censor, and dated London, August 
3: 

Roger Casement, Irish rebel, died a traitor's death on an English 
scaffold this morning in Pentonville Prison at 9 o'clock, and his 
body was buried in quicklime beneath the stones of the prison yard. 

**I die for my country," were Casement's last words; "into Thy 
hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit. Jesus, receive my soul." The 
next moment the trap was sprung. 

A great crowd began to collect outside the prison this morning as 



434 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

the hour for the execution drew near, and as the prison bell began 
to toll, at 20 minutes to 9, the streets for two blocks in front of the 
gates were black with people, who alternately cheered and groaned 
at the heavy, measured strokes of the bell. 

In the rear of the prison, as close as possible to the point where 
the scaffold stands, and huddled away from the rest of the crowd, 
was a little knot of Irishmen and Irishwomen who had gathered 
there, apparently with the hope that their fellow-countryman might 
feel that in his last moments a few friends were still near. 

Just before 9 o'clock the bell ceased tolling, and a great silence 
fell upon the people. All knew what it meant — the doomed man 
was ascending the scaffold. Then, at 1 minute past 9, came a single, 
heavy, reverberating peal of the bell, and simultaneously the crowd 
burst, as though from an uncontrollable impulse, into an outcry 
which sounded as though compounded of a mocking, jeering yell 
and a half hysterical wail. 

That was a sound which echoed over the stormy waves of 
the Irish Sea to rouse to a still grimmer pitch of determina- 
tion a nation which, having tasted once more of the power 
of freedom, if for only the brief spell of one week, will carry 
on the fight till the Green, White and Orange flies in triumph 
over a free and independent Irish Republic. 



APPENDIX 



IRELAND'S ROLL OF HONOR 

The following are the names of the men who were killed 
during the fighting: 



The O'Rahilly 
Sean Connolly 
John O'Reilly 
Gerald Keogh 
Richard Murphy 
Peter Mac^en 
William Maguire 
John O'Grady 
Richard O'Carroll 
FR.4.NCIS Burke 
Edward WAlsh 
Sean Howard 
John Dromean 
Andrew B-ftiNE 
Michael Malone 
James Corqoran 
il^rry coyle 
Patrick Whelan 



George Reynolds 
Joseph Kelly 
Con Keating 
Edward O'Reilly 
Patrick Shortis 
John Hurley 
Edward Ennis 

DOMHNALL ShEEHAN 

Francis Macken 
John Costello 
Charles Darcy 
John Crinegan 
Richard Kent 
Peter Manning 
D. Murphy 
William McDowell 
J. Owens 



Patrick O' Flanagan 
John Traynor 
Thomas Weafer 
Philip Walsh 
Thomas Allen 
J. Geoghegan 
Philip Clark 
Thomas O'Reilly 
James Byrne 
Peter Wilson 
Patrick Doyle 
Charles Corrigan 
James Quinn 
John Healy 
Joseph Byrne 
John Adams 
D. Murray 
John Devane 



The following are those who were sentenced by the Courts- 
martial, in addition to those executed: 

Thomas Beva'n, ten years' penal servitude. 
Thomas Walch, ten years' penal servitude. 
FiNiAN LyNCH, ten years' penal servitude. 
Diarmuid C. Lynch, ten years' penal servitude. 
Thomas Ashe, penal servitude for life. 
Michael Mervyn, ten years' penal servitude. 
Den-nis O'Callaghan, ten years' penal servitude. 
P. E. Sweeney, ten years' penal servitude. 
Patrick M'Nestry, ten years' penal servitude. 
Peter Clancy, ten years' penal servitude. 
William Tobin, ten years' penal servitude. 
George Irvine, ten years' penal servitude. 
John Doherty, ten years' penal servitude. 
J. J. Walsh, ten years' penal servitude. 
James Melinn, ten years' penal servitude. 
J. J. Reid, ten years' penal servitude. 
John Williams, ten years' penal servitude. 



436 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

Francis Fahy, ten years* penal servitude. 

Richard Davys, ten years' penal servitude. 

John M 'Garry, eight years' penal servitude. 

Thomas Hunter, penal servitude for life. 

William Cosgrove, penal servitude for life. 

Edward Duggan, three years' penal servitude. 

Pierce Beasley, three years' penal servitude. 

Joseph Maguinness, three years' penal servitude. 

Constance Georgina Markievicz, penal servitude for life. 

Henry O'Hanrahan, penal servitude for life. 

George Plunkett, penal servitude for ten years. 

John Plunkett, penal servitude for ten years. 

Philip B. Cosgrave, penal servitude for five years. 

W. Meehan, penal servitude for five years. 

R. Kelly, penal servitude for five years. 

W. Wilson, penal servitude for five years. 

J. Clarke, penal servitude for five years. 

J. Brennan, penal servitude for five years. 

P. Wilson, penal servitude for five years. 

F. Brooks, penal servitude for five years. 

R. Coleman, penal servitude for five years. 

T. Peppard, penal servitude for five years. 

J. Norton, penal servitude for five years. 

J. Byrne, penal servitude for five years. 

T. O'Kelly, penal servitude for five years. 

James T. Hughes, penal scrintude for ten years. 

Peter Doyle, penal servitude for ten years. 

J. Wilson, two years' imprisonment with hard labor. 

E. Roach, one years imprisonment with hard labor. 

James O'Sullivan, eight years' penal servitude. 

Vincent Vooi^e, five years' penal servitude. 

William P. Corrigan, ^?'e years' penal servitude. 

John Downey, three years' penal servitude. 

James Burke, three years' penal servitude. 

James Morrissy, three years' penal servitude. 

Maurice Brennan, three years' penal servitude. 

Gerald Doyle, three years' penal servitude. 

Charles Bevan, three years' penal servitude. 

Patrick Fogarty, three years' penal servitude. 

John Faulkner, three years' penal servitude. 

Michael Brady, three years' penal servitude. 

George Levins, three years' penal servitude. 

John F. Cullen, three years' penal servitude. 

J. Dorrington, three years' penal servitude. 

W. O'Dea, three years' penal servitude. 

P. Kelly, three years' penal servitude. 

James Dempsey, three years' penal s'ervitude. 

Michael Scully, three years' penal servitude. 

J. Crenigan, one year with hard labor. 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 437 

"William Derrington, one year mth hard labor. 
Edward de Valera, penal servitude for life. 
John McArdle, three years' penal servitude. 
C. O'DoNOVAN, five years' penal servitude. 
John Shouldice, five years' penal servitude. 
Thomas Ashe, penal servitude for life. 
Frank Lawless, ten years' penal servitude. 
James Lawless, ten years' penal servitude. 
Richard Hayes, twenty years' penal servitude. 
Henry James Boland, five years' penal servitude. 
Gerald Crofts, five years' penal servitude. 
Frank Drennan, ten years' penal servitude. 
Charles O'Neill, one year with hard labor. 
Bryan Molloy, Galway, ten years. 
Michael de Lucy, Enniscorthy, five years. 
John R. Etchingham, Enniscorthy, five years. 
Robert Brennan, Enniscorthy, five years. 
James Rafter, Enniscorthy, five years. 
Richard F. King, Enniscorthy, five years. 
James Doyle, Enniscorthy, five years. 
James Joyce, Dublin, five years. 
Fergus O'Connor, Dublin, three years. 
Philip Joseph MacMahon, Dundalk, three years. 
Michael Reynolds, Dundalk, three years. 
John Quinn, Dundalk, three years. 
Michael Grady, Athenry, one year. 
Charles White, Athenry, one year. 
John Haniffy, Athenry, one year. 
Martin Hansberry, Athenry, one year. 
Michael Higgins, Athenry, one year. 
John Grady, Athenry, one year. 
James Murray, Athenry, one year. 
Thomas Barrett, Athenry, one year. 
Patrick Kennedy, Athenry, one year. 
Thomas Kennedy, Athenry, one year. 
Murtagh Fahy, Athenry, one year. 
Michael Donohue, Athenry, one year. 
Patrick Weafer, Maynooth, six months. 
John Greaves, Maynooth, six months. 
Joseph Ledwick, Maynooth, six months. 
Conor McGinley, Dublin, three years. 
John Carrick, Oranmore, three years. 
Michael Hehir, Oranmore, three years. 
Christopher Carrick, Oranmore, three years. 
William Corcoran, Oranmore, three years. 
Patrick Fury, Oranmore, three years. 
Eddy Corcoran, Oranmore, three years. 
Thomas Fury, Oranmore, three years. 
Michael Higgins, Oranmore, three years. 



438 HISTORY OF THE SINN FEIN MOVEMENT 

Patrick Flanagan, Oranmore, three years. 

James Loughlin, Oranmore, three years. 

Michael Toole, Oranmore, three years. 

Joseph Burke, Oranmore, three years. 

Joseph Howley, Oranmore, three years. 

T. F. Fury, Oranmore, three years. 

Timothy Brosnan, Kerry, five years. 

Colan O'Geary, Mayo, ten years. 

John Tomkins, Wexford, ten years. 

Jeremiah C. Lynch, New York, ten years* 

Peter Gallian, Wexford, five years. 

Patrick Fahy, Galway, ten years. 

Thomas Desmond Fitzgerald, Dublin, ten years. 

William Partridge, Dublin, ten years. 

Michael Fleming, Sr., Galway, three years. 

John Corcoran, Galway, three years. 

William Hussey, Galway, three years. 

Michael Fleming, Jr., Galway, one year. \^for life. 

John (Eoin) MacNeill, convicted and sentenced to penal servitude 

A large number of men were arrested, deported, and con- 
fined in jail as criminals without any charges being preferred 
against them and without a trial. The following are the batches 
of prisoners and the dates on which they were deported: 

Two hundred prisoners were removed from Richmond 
Barracks, Dublin, on April 30th, and lodged in Knutsford 
Detention Barracks, England, on May 1st. 

Two hundred and eighty-nine prisoners were removed from 
Richmond Barracks, Dublin, on April 30th, and lodged in 
Stafford Detention Barracks on May 1st. 

Three hundred and eight prisoners were removed from 
Richmond Barracks, Dublin, on May 2d, and lodged in Knuts- 
ford Detention Barracks on May 3d. 

Three hundred and seventy-six prisoners arrested by the 
military authorities were received at Wakefield Detention 
Barracks on May 6th. 

Two hundred and three prisoners were removed from 
Richmond Barracks, Dublin, on May 8th, and lodged in 
Stafford Detention Barracks on May 9th. 

One hundred and ninety-seven prisoners were removed 
from Richmond Barracks, Dublin, on May 8th, and lodged 
in Wandsworth Detention Barracks, London, on May 9th. 



AND THE IRISH REBELLION OF 1916 439 

Fifty-four prisoners were removed from Richmond Barracks, 
Dublin, on May 12th, and lodged in Wandsworth Detention 
Barracks, London, on May 13th. Among those deported at 
this time was Arthur Griffith, the father of the Sinn Fein Policy. 

Fifty-eight prisoners were removed from Richmond Bar- 
racks, Dublin, on May 12th, and lodged in Stafford Detention 
Barracks on May 13th. 

Two hundred and seventy-three prisoners were removed 
from Richmond Barracks on May 12th, and lodged in Wake- 
field Detention Barracks on May 13th. 

One hundred and ninety-seven prisoners were removed 
from Dublin on May 19th to Barlinnie Detention Barracks, 
Glasgow, and to Perth Detention Barracks. 

Forty prisoners were removed from Richmond Barracks, 
Dublin, on May 19th, and lodged in Woking Detention Bar- 
racks the following day. 

Fifty-nine prisoners were removed from Richmond Bar- 
racks on May 19th and lodged in Lewes Detention Barracks 
on the following day. 

One hundred prisoners were removed from Richmond Bar- 
racks, Dublin, on June 1st, and lodged in Wakefield Deten- 
tion Barracks on the following day. 

Forty-nine prisoners were removed from Richmond Barracks, 
Dublin, on June 1st, and lodged in W^ands worth Detention 
Barracks on the following day. 

Fifty prisoners were removed from Richmond Barracks, 
Dublin, on June 1st, and lodged in Knutsford Detention 
Barracks on the following day. 

Forty-one prisoners were removed from Richmond Barracks, 
Dublin, on June 6th, and lodged in Knutsford Detention 
Barracks on the following day. 

Twenty-five prisoners were removed from Richmond Bar- 
racks, Dublin, on June 15th, and lodged in Knutsford De- 
tention Barracks on the following day. 

An official list of two hundred and twelve prisoners con- 
fined at Richmond Barracks, Dublin, was issued on Saturday, 
May 20th. 



INDEX 



Act, Home Rule {see Home Rule 
Bill, Third) 

Aeroplane corps, Irish, 151 

Africa, South, 53 

Agriculture, department of {see De- 
partment of Agriculture) 

Amending Bill, Home Rule, 100 

America, United States of, 22, 24, 36; 
news of rebellion plans leaks from, 
241, 242; and Sinn Fein, 4 

America, South, 23 

Ancient Order of Hibernians, 136 

An Cumann Eitel, 151 

Anti-recruiting campaign, 35 

Argentina, 8, 22, 24, 50 

Arigna coal mines, 25 

Aristotle and Irish education, 4, 5 

Armenians, 36 

Arms Act proclaimed in Ireland, 85 

Arms brought to Dubhn Volunteers, 
259 

Army, British {see British Army; 
Anti-recruiting, etc.) 

Ashbourne, battle of, 409 

Ashe, Thomas, 409 

Asquith, Herbert Henry, 62, 69, 71, 
72, 98, 115, 116 

Assembly, Irish National, 42, 46 

Atrocities in Ireland, British, 123 

Aud, the, fitted with arms cargo for 
Ireland, 243; leaves Germany for 
Ireland, 244; voyage of, 246; 
blown up by her crew, 251 

Australia, 22, 53 

Austria, 34, 38, 44 

Austro-Hungary, 22, 24 

Bachelor's Walk, Massacre of, 
95,96 



Bailey, Private Daniel, 244 

Balance of Power, 60 

Balfour, Arthur James, 71 

Banks in Ireland, 43 

Barricade in North Earl Street, 298; 
in Stephen's Green, 302, 304; at 
Jacob's Factory, 305; in Post 
Office Area, 323, 383; at Phibs- 
boro, 349, 350 

Battle of Ashbourne, 409; Mount 
Street Bridge, 357, 358, 359, 360; 
Phibsboro, 350 

Beasley, Piaras, 151 

Beer, British revenue from sale of, 39 

Belgium, 21, 22, 24 

Betrayal, Home Rule, 62, 63 

Birrell, Chief Secretary, 71; alarmed 
about Volunteers, 236; receives 
R. I. C. Report, 256; consents to 
military plot, 277 

"Black Hole of Calcutta," Ireland's, 
36 

Blythe, E,, Volunteer organizer, 
arrested, 237, 257 

Boer War, 38, 43 

Boland's Mills occupied, 312; sur- 
render of, 396, 397 

Bombardment of Dubhn, 356, 357, 
361; of Liberty Hall, 355, 356 

Bowen-Colthurst, Captain {see Mur- 
der of Sheehy-Skeffington) 

British Army, disloyalty in, 79, 80; 
Englishmen in, 37; Scotsmen in, 37; 
Irishmen in, 36 

British officer executed by his own 
men, 387 

British soldiers in Ireland, conduct of, 
36,37 

Bruga, Cathal, courage of, 402 



442 



INDEX 



Buckingham Palace Conference, 101 
Burning of Dublin, 361 

Campbell-Bannerman, Sir Henry, 
61 

Canada, 8, 22, 24, 35, 53 

Carlisle, Lord, 8 

Carson, Sir Edward, 73, 99, 113, 128, 
129; and his Volunteers, 74 

Casement, Sir Roger, 290; in America, 
196, 197, 198, 199, 200; leaves for 
Germany, 201; plot to kill, 202; 
receives statement from German 
Government, 214; appeals to Irish- 
men, 215; and the German Arms 
for Ireland, 239; and the Rebellion, 
240; leaves Germany in submarine, 
244; letter to his sister, 244, 245; 
held up in Heligoland, 247; arrives 
in Ireland, 252; sends message to 
Eoin MacNeill, 263, 264; arrested 
by British, 267; placed on trial, 
426; speech from the dock, 427; 
execution of, 433, 434 

Castle, Dubhn {see Dublin Castle) 

Catholics and Protestants in Ireland, 
226 

Ceannt, Eamonn, 163, 164, 280, 284; 
in South Dubhn Union, 317, 318; 
surrender of, 396, 405; execution of, 
418 

Charles Street, fighting in, 324 

Charter of Irish Liberty, 285 

ChiU, 22, 24 

Christian Brothers, Irish, 2, 5, 6 

Citizen Army, the, 140 

City Hall, Dublin, occupied, 309, 310; 
attack on, 348, 349 

Civil Service, Irish, 31, 32, 33 

Clarke, Mrs. T., 141 

Clarke, Thomas J., 119, 144, 145, 149, 
151, 280, 281, 283, 284; last stand 
by, 395; execution of, 417, 421, 
244, 425 



Coal in Ireland, 18, 25 
Coalition Cabinet, the, 127 
Colbert, Cornehus, execution of, 418, 

419, 420 
Collection of taxes reserved from 

Ireland, 55, 56 
Colonies, British, 53 
Commandant of Dublin Forces {see 

Connolly, James) 
Commerce, Irish, and Sinn Fein, 21 
*' Concessions Be Damned! " 147, 148, 

149 
Conference, the nine hours', 279 
Confusion in Cork, 410 
Connolly, James, 121, 140, 157, 160, 

161, 162, 279; receives wound, 379; 

proclamation issued by, 379, 380, 

381; agrees to surrender, 394; 

execution of, 424; statement at 

court-martial, 424, 425 
Connolly, Nora, 279, 424 
Connolly, Sean, 308, 309 
Conscription, 133, 217 
Consular service, Irish, 23, 24 
Cork, and Sinn Fein, 9; confusion in, 

410 
Cork Celt suppressed, 121 
Cork Harbor Board, 17 
Council of Three Hundred, 46 
Councils Bill, Irish, 63 
County Councils, Irish, 8, 9, 16, 18, 

25, 31, 46 
Courage of women rebels, 362 
Covenanters of Lister, 76 
Cromwell, 36 
Cumann na mBan, 141, 142, 176; girls 

of at Liberty Hall, 279, 285, 286; 

girls as messengers, 286; courage 

of girls of, 362, 363, 364, 365 
Curragh mutiny, 79, 80 
Custom House captured by British, 

341, 342 
Customs and excise under Home 

Rule, 53 



INDEX 



443 



Daly, Edward, occupies Four 
Courts, 328; execution of, 418 

Deak, Francis, 35, 60 

Deantha i nEirinn, 19 

Defense of the Realm Act, 122, 217 

Demobilizing orders, 267, 273 

Denmark, 22, 24, 65 

Department of Agriculture, 47, 48 

De Valera, Edward, 221, 311; at 
Boland's Mills, 313, 314, 315; 
repulses British, 316, 317; surren- 
der of, 397 

Devonshire, Duke of, 61 

Devoy, John, 138, 139 

Disarming of Irish Volunteers, plots 
for the, 135, 254, 257, 276, 277 

Disloyalty in British Army, 79, 80 

District Councils, Irish, 16 

Dolan, Charles, 63 

Dublin, Borough Fund, 49; Corpora- 
tion, 49; Castle, 218; capture of, 
306; Port and Docks Board, 16, 
17; Stock Exchange, 40 

Editorial from Sinn Fein, 120, 121, 
180, 181; from Irish Freedom, 147, 
148, 149; from The Volunteer, 183 

Education and Sinn Fein, 1 

Education Fund, National, 6 

Emigration, Irish, 65 

England and the small nations, 222 

Englishmen as fighters, 37; in British 
army, 37 

English nobles and Irish Freedom, 66, 
67 

Enniscorthy, rising in, 407, 408, 409 

Esmond, Sir Thomas, 63 

Executions, the, 412 

Fairview fighting at, 398 

Famine, peril of, 233 

Fenian motto, 84 

Fianna na hEirinn, 142, 172; Royal 
College of Surgeons, 304 ; attack on 
the castle by, 307; surrender of, 396 



Finance, Irish, 40 

Financial Relations Comraission, re- 
port of, 64, 65 

Finland, 1, 50 

Fires, the Dublin (see Burning of 
Dublin) 

Force to settle Irish Question, 77 

Ford, Patrick, 186, 187 

Ford, Robert E., 187 

Four Courts, the, 219; area, 326; 
surrender of, 396 

France, 22, 24, 28 

Freeman's Journal, 62, 81; and Vol- 
unteer incident, 258 

Friends of Irish Freedom, 189 

Gaelic American, The, 139 

Gaelic Athlete, The, 122 

Gaelic League, the, 6, 140, 141 

Galway, rising in, 406, 407 

General Council of the Councils, 18, 

46 
George, Lloyd, 68, 69 
Germany, 10, 21, 22, 24, 28, 78, 79, 

104; statement to the Irish people, 

214, 215; and the rebels, 219, 220; 

cooperation of, not essential, 221 
Gold in Ireland, 45 
Gold not an Irish color, 231 
Government of Ireland Bill (see 

Home Rule Bill, Thu-d) 
Government stockbrokers, 40 
Gray, Edmund Dwyer, 45 
Grazing lands, Irish, 8 
Greece, 65 
Green, white, and orange tricolor, 84, 

92, 226, 294 
Grey, Sir Edward, 61, 62 
Griffith, Arthur, 1, 10, 49, 61, 62, 119, 

140, 151, 178, 179, 181, 182 
Gun-running in Ulster, 78, 101 

Harbor Commissioners, Irish, 16, 
17,46 



444 



INDEX 



Helga, English gunboat, 355, 356 
Heuston, J. J., execution of, 418, 419 
Hibernians, Ancient Order of, 186 
Hobson, Butler, 151, 216; arrested 

by Volunteers, 289 
Holland, 22, 24, 50 
Home Rule, 26, 52, 59, 68, 69 
Home Rule Bill, Third, 52, 59, 65, 98, 

99, 100, 116, 130 
"Home Rule is Dead," 62 
Honesty, 122 
Hungary, 6, 7, 34, 35. 38, 43, 44, 50, 

60 

India, 22 

Industries, Irish, 8 

Intrigue, Home Rule, 61 

Ireland, 122 

Ireland, and the war, 104; British 
redcoat in, 36, 37; partition of, 
suggested, 75; technical instruction 
in, 47, 48; valuation of, 47 

Irish banking, 43; coal, 18, 25; canals, 
25; Christian Brothers, 2, 5, 6, 
Civil Service, 31 ,32, 33; commerce, 
21; consular service, 23, 24; Coun- 
cils Bill, 63; County Councils, 8, 
9, 16, 18, 25, 31; courts of law, 34, 
Finance, 40; Harbor Boards, 17, 
46; in America, 148; liberty, char- 
ter of, 285; Local Government 
Board, 29; Irishmen in British 
Army, 36; Mercantile Marine, 
21, 22, 23; National Assembly, 
42, 46; newspapers suppressed, 
121, 122; Parliament and Third 
Home Rule Bill, 52; Parliamen- 
tary Party {see ParUamentary 
Party); poor law system, 27; race 
convention, 189; railroads, 25; Re- 
publican Brotherhood, 81, 84, 138, 
139, 185, 186; Republic, reasons 
for a, 223; Stock Exchange, 40; 
Taxation, 38, 39; Tobacco, 19; 



Trademark, 19, 20; Transport 
Workers' Union, 140; Tricolor {see 
Green, white, and orange); Urban 
Councils, 16, 31, 46; Volunteers of 
1780, 21; vote in Great Britain, 
60, 62 

Irish Freedom, 119, 139, 146; editorial 
from, 146, 148, 149 

Irish-Germanic Alliance, 219 

Irish Independent ignores Volunteers, 
81 

Irish Volunteers of 1916, formation of, 
81; plot to disarm the, 135, 245, 
275, 276, 277; proclamation issued 
by, 211, 212, 213; convention of, 
213; break with Redmond, 213; 
why called Sinn Fein, 213; secret 
session of, 216; Council meetings 
of the, 237; organizers of, arrested, 
237; hold up trolley car, 258 

Irish War News, 345, 346, 347 

Irish Worker, 121 

Irish World, 186, 187, 188 

Italy, 22, 24, 28 

Jacobs' Biscuit Factory occupied, 

304, 305; surrendered, 396 
Japan, 22, 24 
Jews, 36 

Kaiser Wilhelm II, 73, 75, 77, 79 
Keely, John, death of, 295 
"Kelly's Fort," 218, 219, 322 
Kent, murder of Thomas, 410, 411, 

420 
King's own Scottish Borderers, 93, 

94,95 
King's Veto, 101, 102 
Kossuth, Louis, 10, 43, 44 

Lancers, British, routed, 295 
Law, Bonar, 75, 76, 77 
Law courts, national, 34 
"Leopardstown Races," 295 



INDEX 



445 



Liberty, Charter of Irish, 285 
Liberty Hall, 218, 275, 276; nine 
hours' conference at, 278; bombard- 
ment by British, 355, 356; cap- 
tured by British, 356 
Liberty of the Press, 121, 122, 127 
Libraries, Irish National, 47 
Linen Hall Barracks, capture of, 367 
List, Frederick, 10, 11, 12, 20, 21 
Local Government Board, Irish, 29, 49 
Lords, House of, and Home Rule, 66 
Louth, rising in, 409 

MacDermott, Sean, 119, 145, 146, 
147, 149, 150, 151, 280, 284; in the 
Post Office, 383; execution of, 421, 
422, 423, 424 

MacDonagh, Thomas, 7, 157, 158, 
159, 160, 267, 284; surrender of, 
395; execution of, 415, 416, 417 

MacNeill, Professor Eoin, 7, 83, 98, 
140, 182, 183; article by, 183; 
presides at secret sessic«i, 216; 
receives message from Casement, 
266; issues demobilizing order, 
267; disappears, 288 

Magazine Fort captured, 329, 330, 
331 

Mallin, Michael, 301; execution of, 
418, 419 

Maloney, Helena, 174, 175, 176 

Manifesto issued by Provisional Gov- 
ernment, 346, 347 

Markievicz, Countess Constance, 142, 
171, 172, 173, 174, 175, 176; in 
Royal College of Surgeons, 304; 
attack on the Castle by, 307; 
surrender of, 396 

Martin, John, 60 

Martyn, Edward, 1 

Massacre of Bachelor's Walk, 95, 96 

McBride, Major John, 166, 167; in 
Jacob's factory, 305; execution of, 
418 



McLoughlin, Joseph, 188 

Meath, County, 60 

Mellows, William, Volunteer organ- 
izer, arrested, 237, 257, 406 

Mercantile Marine, Irish, 21, 22, 23 

Monaghan, A., Volunteer organizer, 
arrested, 237 

Monteith, Captain Robert, 244 

Morley, John, 61 

Mount Street Bridge, Battle of, 357, 
358, 359, 360 

Murder of Sheehy-Skeffington, 369; 
of Thomas Kent, 410, 411 

National Assembly, 42, 46 
National, Banks, 44, 45; Council, 

1, 14; Education Fund, 6; Law 

Courts, 34; Libraries, 47 
"National" Schools in Ireland, 5, 6 
National Stock Exchange, 42 
"National" Volunteers, 98; classed 

as "Supine" by British, 235 
Nation, The, 34 
Newman, Mrs. Agnes, 244 
Newspapers suppressed, 121, 122, 238 
New Statesman, letter to, 253 
Nine hours' conference, 279 
Northcliffe papers support Carson, 76 
North Dublin Union, 29 
Norway, 21, 22, 65 

Obstruction, Parnell's Policy of, 
60 

O'Connell, Daniel, 34 

O'Connell Street patrolled, 323 

O'Connor, T. P., misstatements by, 
235 

O'Hannigan, Donal, 410 

O'Hanrahan, Michael, 167, 168; exe- 
cution of, 418 

O'Rahilly, The, 45, 150, 51, 152; 
ride to Limerick, 270; returns to 
Dublin, 287; joins the rebels, 288; 
leads dash from Post Office, 385; 
killed in action, 386 



446 



INDEX 



Orangemen, 50, 226 
Order for the Rebellion, first, 265 
Order for the Rebellion, second, 290 
O'Reilly, John, 309. 310 

Paper Money, 45 

Papineau, 35 

Parliament Act, the, 65 

Parliamentary Party, Irish, 26, 59, 
97, 189, 262 

Parnell, Charles Stewart, 60, 61 

Partition of Ireland suggested, 75, 98, 
99, 100 

Pearse, President Padraic, 152, 153; 
editorial by, 153; at nine hom*s, 
conference, 280; selected as presi- 
dent, 283; signs proclamation, 284; 
speech outside the Post Office, 296, 
297; police appointed by, 341; 
statement made by, 345, 346; 
manifesto issued by, 346, 347; 
signs order for surrender, 394; 
execution of, 413, 414, 415; last 
proclamation by, 382, 383 

Pearse, WiUiam, 168; execution of, 418 

Penal Laws, British, 2 

Phibsboro, barricade at, 349, 350; 
Battle of, 350 

Pledge of the Irish Volunteers, 84 

Plot, disarmament {see Irish Volun- 
teers) 

Plunkett, Joseph Mary, 164, 165, 280, 
284; execution of, 418 

Pogrom planned by British, 253, 260, 
261, 275, 276, 277, 333, 334, 335 

Poland, 6, 7, 50 

Police, Irish, appointed, 341 

Poor Law Guardians, 16, 46 

Poor law system in Ireland, 27 

Portugal, 22 

Post Office, DubUn General, 217, 218; 
capture of, 291, 292; area of, 320; 
bombardment of, 383; set on fire, 
384; retreat from, 385 



President of Irish Republic {see 

Pearse, Padraic) 
Priests and people, 233 
Privy Council, British, 53 
Proclamation of the Irish RepubUc, 7, 

283, 284 
Protection in Ireland, 15 
Protestants and Catholics in Ireland, 

226 
Provisional Government manifesto, 

346, 347 

Railroad Stations in Dublin, 219 
Rebellion of 1916, 58, 59; not a Sinn 
Fein Rebellion, 138; how it was 
planned, 217; order for the, 265 
Redcoat in Ireland, 36, 37, 123 
Redmond, John E., 54, 55, 62, 63, 64, 
71, 72, 75, 96, 97, 98, 99, 113, 129, 
130, 134, 135, 139, 186, 187, 188, 
189, 210; as recruiting sergeant, 
116, 117; knowledge of, of con- 
ditions in Ireland, 234; speech in 
Galway, 233; and Volunteer inci- 
dent, 258 
Religion, Wars of, in Ireland, 226 
Republic, reasons for an Irish, 223; 
proclamation of the Irish, 283, 284, 
293 
Restrictions under Home Rule, 56 
Ringsend {see Roland's Mills) 
Rotunda, Dublin, 1, 49, 81, 82 
Royal assent, 53, 55 
Royal College of Surgeons occupied, 

304 
Royal Dublin Society, 8 
Royal Irish Constabulary, 32, 56; 

report on Volunteers, 256 
Russia, 22, 24, 35 

Scissors and Paste, 121, 122 
Scotland, 22, 62 
Scotsmen in British army, 37 
Secret orders to military, 260, 261 . 



INDEX 



447 



Shamrock for Irish soldiers of Eng- 
land, 38 

Signers of Irish Proclamation, 284 

Sinn Fein Policy, 1 ; and education, 1 ; 
and industries, 8; and protection, 
15; and commerce, 21; and poor 
law system, 27; and consular serv- 
ice, 23, 24; and Civil Service, 31, 32, 
33; and National Law Courts, 34; 
and anti-recruiting, 35; and Taxa- 
tion, 38, 39; and Irish finance, 40; 
and banking, 43; and Council of 
Three Hundred, 46; and Third 
Home Rule Bill, 51, 54; and Home 
Rule betrayal, 63 

Sinn Fein, suppressed, 119; editorial 
from, 120, 121, 180, 181 

Skeffington, Francis Sheehy-, 253; 
appeals to looters, 297, 298; murder 
of, 369 

Small nations, England and, 222 

Smith, Adam, 10, 12 

South Dublin Union occupied, 317; 
attack on, repulsed, 318; surrender 
of, 396, 405; fighting at, 400 

Spain, 22, 24 

Split between Volunteers, 97, 98 

Stephen's Green position, 299, 300; 
capture of, 301; fortification of, 302 

Stock Exchange in Ireland, 40 

Strike against taxes, 38 

Strongbow, 36 

Suppression of Irish newspapers, 121, 
122 

Surrender of Republicans, 393 

Sweden, 64, 65 

Switzerland, 65 

Taxation, Irish, 38, 39, 63, 64, 65; 

under Home Rule, 55, 56; increase 

of, m Ireland, 238 
Technical instruction in Ireland, 47, 48 
The Gael, 122 
The O'Rahilly (see O'Rahilly) 



The Spark, 122 

Three Hundred, Council of, 46 

Tilled land in Ireland, 8 

Tobacco, Irish, 19 

Trade mark, Irish, 19, 20 

Transit in Ireland, 25 

Treachery of Liberal Government, 61 

Treason of Sir Edward Carson, 76 

Treaty of 1783, 59 

Tri-color, Irish {See Green, white, 

and orange) 
Trim woolens, 41 
Trinity College, Dublin, 4, 7; attack 

on, 310, 311 
Turks, 36 

Ulster, 59; Volunteers, 74; percent- 
age of Nationalists in, 99, 100 
Union, Act of, 59 
United Irish League, 62 
United Irishmen, 39 
United States of America (^ee America) 
University, Irish National, 7 
Urban Councils, Irish, 16, 31, 46 

Valuation of Ireland, 47 

Veto, British, on Irish Parliament, 52; 

Lords' (see Parliament Act) 
Victoria, Queen, 38 
Volunteers, Irish, of 1780, 21; Irish 

(^ee Irish Volunteers); "National" 

{see National Volunteers); Ulster 

{see Ulster Volunteers) 
Volunteer, The, editorial from, 183 

War Taxes in Ireland, 238 

Whisky, British revenue from sale of, 
39 

Wimborne, Lord, 274, 275 

Women, atrocities committed upon 
Irish, 123; courage of, in the Re- 
bellion, 362; under Home Rule, 57 

Women's place in an Irish republic, 
224 

Workers' Republic, 122 

Wurtemburg, 65 



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